At 34 years old, and despite nearly 66 fights in his 19-year professional career, Canelo Alvarez proved he still has it in a big way in Saturday’s Mexican Independence Day weekend showdown with undefeated Edgar Berlanga.
Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) showed plenty of his pound-for-pound assets by dropping Berlanga in Round 3. Impressive win by unanimous decision. Not only does the Mexican icon lean on his vast advantage in experience, he regularly corners and beats his opponents at close range despite failing to predict stoppages.
But given Alvarez’s constant sparring with critics and his stubborn stance that he’s done so much throughout his career that his matchmaking choices can’t be questioned, all the while actively avoiding a specific challenger for his unified super middleweight crown, whether one’s P4P ranking is It’s fair to ask. Should be negatively affected by his decision making.
Alvarez once had a rock-solid reputation as a fighter who overcame his own team’s advice to take on dangerous stylistic challenges (Floyd Mayweather, Austin Trout, Erislandy Lara) on his way through the junior middleweight division. His subsequent runs at 160 and above were also notable for the quality of his opponents and how consistently he performed, including a fourth weight class title at light heavyweight.
In fact, the 10-fight stretch that began with a 2017 decision victory over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. showcased the prime of his prime in a five-year run that saw him evolve from the sport’s biggest commercial star — and the face of the Mayweather-Pacquiao era — to the best on the planet. To become P4P Alvarez also went 9-0-1 during that stretch, sharing the ring with Gennady Golovkin (twice), Daniel Jacobs, Sergey Kovalev, Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant.
The turning point seemed to come in 2022 when Alvarez moved back up to 175 pounds and outpointed Dmitri Bival in their title fight. The scores appeared much closer than the action as Alvarez was physically dominated by a bigger and equally skilled boxer.
The aftermath was that Alvarez, who had previously teased a run at a cruiserweight title, was no longer interested in challenging himself. Alvarez also began a decision win streak away from acceptably dangerous opponents that has now reached five with the Berlanga victory.
Alvarez either doesn’t want to fight the two names his fans want the most — David Benavidez and Terence Crawford — or doesn’t want to be told what to do and stubbornly holds his ground. Either way, it’s a terrifying look that makes him look scared, greedy, or both. This is slowly starting to change the way people view his legacy.
While Alvarez still seems interested in a rematch with Bivol when the Russian-born fighter becomes undisputed champion against Artur Beterbiev in October, it’s hard to imagine him actually fearing anyone. But making the excuse that Beterbiev rehydrated too big when he already won a title at 175 pounds and only fought an opponent in Berlanga who did that, is just a lame excuse.
Alvarez remains an incredibly active superstar who draws big crowds no matter who he fights. But his status as a critic among the game’s best will only diminish if he continues to take the path of least resistance in defending his title and making his next moves.
Using a criteria that considers everything from achievements to current form, let’s take a closer look at the top fighters inside the ring. Below are the latest pound for pound ranking updates following Alvarez’s win in September.
Pound-for-pound ranking
1. Alexander Usyk
Undisputed Heavyweight Champion (22-0, 14 KOs) | Previous ranking: No. 1
Usyk’s professional run has been decorated as it has been perfect. The former undisputed cruiserweight champ finally picked up a pair of wins over Anthony Joshua to unify the trio of heavyweight titles ahead of his undisputed clash against WBC champion Tyson Fury in May. An exciting, Split-decision victory produced Usyk Only the third male boxer in the four-belt era to become undisputed champion in two divisions. A Fury rematch is scheduled for December.
2. Naoya Inoue
Undisputed Junior Featherweight Champion (25-0, 23 KOs) | Previous ranking: No. 2
The four-division champion, who has reached undisputed positions in two different weight classes, continued his legendary hold on the sport by rising from the canvas and finishing Luis Neri in their May title fight at the Tokyo Dome. “The Monster” seemed a lot more defensive in September when he took it apart Stopped former champion TJ Doheny. It is expected to return to Japan in December before a major event planned for Las Vegas in 2025 by co-promoter Bob Aram.
3. Terence Crawford
WBA Junior Middleweight Champion (40-0, 29 KOs) | Previous ranking: No. 3
In his long-awaited return after demolishing Errol Spence Jr. last summer, Crawford moved up to 154 pounds. Hold off WBA champion Israel Madrimov briefly. Despite what turned out to be one of the toughest fights of Crawford’s career, “Bud” remains adamant that the only fight he’s interested in is a fight with super middleweight king Canelo Alvarez.
4. Arthur Beterbiev
Unified Light Heavyweight Champion (20-0, 20 KOs) | Previous ranking: 4
Beterbiev put to rest any whispers that he was getting old by knocking out former 168-pound-champion Calum Smith in January. Outside of his mandatory route, an undisputed showdown against WBA champion Dimitri Bivol was scheduled for June 1. But Beterbiev, 39, went out in May with a torn meniscus, pushing the fight to October.
5. Dmitry Bivol
WBA Light Heavyweight Champion (23-0, 12 KOs) | Previous ranking: No. 5
Following an incredible 2022, which included a win over Canelo Alvarez and near-universal acclaim as fighter of the year, Bivol sat out most of 2023 in hopes of facing unified champion Artur Beterbiev. Their undisputed title fight was scheduled for June 1 until Beterbiev suffered a major injury, forcing Bival to face replacement Malik Zinad. The new date for Beterbiev will be October 12.
6. Canelo Alvarez
Unified Super Middleweight Champion (62-2-2, 38 KOs) | Previous ranking: No. 6
The former P4P king is still a unified champion at 168 pounds, and he proved it in May by overwhelming compatriot Jaime Munguia. But despite constant fan and media pressure to fight former David Benavidez or Terence Crawford, the much-scrutinized Alvarez returned to dominate undefeated Edgar Berlanga in Las Vegas in September.
7. Gervonta Davis
WBA Lightweight Champion (30-0, 28 KOs) | Previous ranking: 7
Davis’ body-shot knockout of Ryan Garcia in their superfight last April looks even better now that “King Ryan” became the first boxer to knock out former undisputed lightweight king Devin Haney. With a 2023 prison sentence behind him, “Tank” was back June to wipe out undefeated Frank Martin. Davis said he wants the champion out of here and is expected to return at the PPV in November or December.
8. Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez
Flyweight, Jr. Bantamweight titleholder (20-0, 13 KOs) | Previous ranking: 8
The 24-year-old from San Antonio landed just shy of 50% of his power shots. Knock out 115-pound titleholder Juan Francisco Estrada Rodriguez will return in November to defend his junior bantamweight title against Pedro Guevara in Philadelphia in July.
9. Shakur Stevenson
WBC Lightweight Champion (22-0, 10 KOs) | Previous ranking: No. 9
Although he was nearly kicked out of the arena — in his hometown, no less — While defending his title against Artem Harutyun In July, Stevenson limited his opponents to just 17% of his punches and was down overall and by single digits in all but one round. The three-division champion entered free agency and signed a multi-fight deal with Matchroom Sport. His debut, scheduled for October, was postponed due to hand surgery.
10. David Benavidez
Interim Light Heavyweight Titleholder (29-0, 24 KOs) | Previous ranking: No. 10
Frustrated as he waited for his shot at undisputed 168-pound king Canelo Alvarez, “El Monstro” moved up in weight to outlast former champion Oleksandr Govozdyk in June. Benavidez, who later revealed injuries to both hands during training camp (which may have prevented him from scoring stoppages), said he would focus on moving up to light heavyweight and wanted the winner of Beterbiev-Bivol in October.
Excluded: None of them
Honorable Mention: Teofimo Lopez Jr., Vasiliy Lomachenko, Tyson Fury, Devin Haney, Junto Nakatani
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