Boxing Pound-for-Pound Rankings: Canelo Alvarez Holds Steady

A few thoughts on a busy boxing weekend …

• Shakur Stevenson doesn’t just look like a pound-for-pound talent. He looks like a future No. 1. In a dominant decision win over once-beaten Robson Conceicao, Stevenson flashed a little of everything: Power, ring generalship and nearly impregnable defense. While it was disappointing to see Stevenson miss the 130-pound weight limit—Stevenson was forced to vacate both his super featherweight titles before the fight—it did little to diminish his performance—or the desire to see Stevenson in with some of the best of the 135-pound division.

• I admit: I have been a Joe Joyce skeptic. But Joyce, 37, didn’t just beat Joseph Parker on Saturday. He dominated him, battering Parker for 10 rounds before knocking him out in the 11th. Joyce doesn’t have the skills of Tyson Fury or the quick twitch power of Deontay Wilder. But he’s got a hard jab, a big right hand and a motor that doesn’t stop. It will be interesting to see which of the top heavyweights will be willing to face him next year.

• Amanda Serrano moved one step closer to her goal of becoming the undisputed titleholder in the 126-pound division, picking up a third belt in a wide decision win over Sarah Mafoud. If Serrano can’t get WBA titleholder Erika Cruz-Hernandez into the ring—and based on public comments it feels like Cruz-Hernandez would rather launch herself into space than face Serrano—why not move to 130 pounds, where she could face the winner of the Oct. 15 showdown between Mikaela Mayer and Alycia Baumgardner, a fight that will establish the undisputed champion at super featherweight.

• Kudos to Terri Harper, who, two fights removed from a knockout loss to Baumgardner at 130 pounds, leaped all the way up to 154-pounds and outclassed Hannah Rankin to claim a junior middleweight belt. A showdown with unified titleholder Natasha Jonas is a headlining fight in the UK.

• Maxi Hughes squeezed by Kid Galahad on Saturday. Don’t be surprised to see Hughes face Ryan Garcia, if Garcia can’t secure a fight with Gervonta Davis and if Hughes can be ready to fight again before the end of the year.

On to Sports Illustrated’s latest men’s pound-for-pound rankings.

1. Terence Crawford

Record: 38-0
Last Month: 1
Last Fight: TKO win vs. Shawn Porter
Next Fight: TBD

Immediately after Dmitry Bivol’s win over Canelo Alvarez last May, Crawford, 34, tweeted. “We know who No. 1 is now.” Indeed, Alvarez’s loss was Crawford’s gain. The former undisputed 140-pound champion beefed up his 147-pound resume with a knockout win over Shawn Porter last fall and appears to be inching toward a fight that could firmly solidify Crawford as boxing’s top talent, with reports indicating that Crawford and longtime rival Errol Spence Jr. are closing in on a title unification fight in November.

2. Oleksandr Usyk

Record: 20-0
Last Month: 2
Last Fight: SD win vs. Anthony Joshua
Next Fight: TBD

Only Canelo Alvarez can claim a better resume than Usyk, whose accomplishments include wins over Marco Huck, Mairis Briedis and Tony Bellew at cruiserweight, and now a pair of wins over Anthony Joshua at heavyweight. Usyk has settled nicely into boxing’s glamour division, finding a comfortable weight (around 221 pounds) and fighting style that has made him tough to beat. Usyk plans to take the rest of 2022 off before gearing up for another heavyweight challenge: Tyson Fury, the WBC titleholder, who will likely face Usyk in the first half of 2022.

3. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez

Record: 58-2-2
Last Month: 3
Last Fight: UD win vs. Gennadiy Golovkin
Next Fight: TBD

The third fight between Alvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin didn’t match the intensity of the first two but it did establish the first clear winner in one of boxing’s better rivalries and it did put Alvarez, 32, back in the win column after last May’s upset loss to Dmitry Bivol. Alvarez intends to have surgery on an injured left wrist, putting a return off until next May, at the earliest. When he does he says he will target a rematch with Bivol, should Bivol defeat Alvarez’s countryman, Gilberto Ramirez, in November.

4. Naoya Inoue

Record: 23-0
Last Month: 4
Last Fight: KO win vs. Nonito Donaire
Next Fight: TBD

Inoue cemented his status as the top 118-pound fighter in boxing with a sensational second-round knockout of Nonito Donaire in June. In stopping Donaire, Inoue, 29, added a third bantamweight title to his collection. He will get a shot at the fourth—and a chance to be called an undisputed champion—in December, when he takes on Paul Butler in Japan.

5. Errol Spence Jr.

Record: 28-0
Last Month: 5
Last Fight: TKO win vs. Yordenis Ugas
Next Fight: TBD

Spence, 32, continued his assault on the top names in the welterweight division last April, stopping Yordenis Ugas to pick up a third piece of the 147-pound title. Despite a series of career-threatening injuries—a car crash in 2019, an eye injury that forced him out of a scheduled fight with Manny Pacquiao in 2021—Spence continues to roll through the best fighters in his weight class. A showdown with Crawford, penciled in for November, isn’t just the biggest fight for Spence at welterweight—it’s the only one.

6. Tyson Fury

Record: 31-0-1
Last Month: 6
Last Fight: KO win vs. Dillian Whyte
Next Fight: TBD

April’s knockout win over Dillian Whyte burnished Fury’s credentials as the best heavyweight in boxing. Rarely do fighters in this weight class appear on pound-for-pound lists, but Fury, 34, blends impressive boxing skills with a strong resume. Early career wins over Derek Chisora and Wladimir Klitschko have been eclipsed by back-to-back knockouts of Deontay Wilder and, most recently, Whyte, who was floored by a savage uppercut in front of north of 90,000 fans at Wembley Stadium. Fury says he is retired, but don’t expect him to pass on a title unification fight against Usyk, which would crown an undisputed champion.

7. Shakur Stevenson

Record: 18-0
Last Month: 7
Last Fight: UD win vs. Robson Conceicao
Next Fight: TBD

Stevenson, 25, looked brilliant in a lopsided decision win over the once-beaten Conceicao, walking the ex-Olympic gold medalist down while continuing to be among boxing’s most difficult fighters to hit. Stevenson now heads to 135 pounds, where star-making matchups with Devin Haney, Vasyl Lomachenko and Gervonta Davis await.

8. Jermell Charlo

Record: 35-1-1
Last month: 8
Last Fight: KO win vs. Brian Castano
Next Fight: TBD

Charlo earned a place on this list after picking up a spectacular knockout win over Brian Castano in May, avenging last year’s controversial draw and fully unifying the 154-pound division. Charlo’s resume at junior middleweight is impressive: He has wins over Erickson Lubin, Austin Trout, Tony Harrison and Jeison Rosario, with his only loss a questionable decision defeat to Harrison. Charlo has consistently taken on the best in the division, which will continue in his next fight, with Charlo penciled in for a title defense against Tim Tszyu, the heavy-handed Australian who is the mandatory challenger for one of Charlo’s belts.

9. Vasyl Lomachenko

Record: 16-2
Last Month: 10
Last Fight: UD win vs. Richard Commey
Next Fight: 10/29 vs. Jamaine Ortiz

No titles, no problem for Lomachenko, who even belt-less can claim to be the most talented fighter in the 135-pound division. A dominant decision win over Richard Commey last December was Loma’s second straight since an upset loss to Teofimo Lopez in 2020. Lomachenko, whose career has been on pause since Russia’s war with Ukraine began earlier this year, will return in October against Jamaine Ortiz. If all goes well, Lomachenko, 34, will get the fight he wants: A crack at the undisputed lightweight title against the winner of the rematch between Devin Haney and George Kambosos.

10. Dmitry Bivol

Record: 20-0
Last Month: NR
Last Fight: UD win vs. Saul Alvarez
Next Fight: 11/5 vs. Gilberto Ramirez

Bivol, 31, established himself as one of boxing’s elite with a convincing decision win over Alvarez last May. With Alvarez passing on an immediate rematch, Bivol will defend his title against unbeaten former super middleweight champion Gilberto Ramirez in November. A win would springboard Bivol into either a massive showdown with Alvarez or a title unification fight against Artur Beterbiev, a fight that would establish an undisputed champion at 175-pounds. 

More Boxing Coverage:

• Report: Spence Jr., Crawford Agree to Unification Bout
• Floyd Mayweather Says McGregor Rematch Is Planned for 2023
• Usyk’s Win Over Joshua Sets Up a Massive Potential Heavyweight Bout