Was Canelo Alvarez’s stoppage of Billy Joe Saunders on Saturday enough for him to supplant Terence Crawford atop the Boxing Junkie pound-for-pound list?
Nah. As emphatic as Alvarez’s knockout was, he can’t ascend to No. 1 as a result of a victory over an opponent who has never been in the pound-for-pound discussion.
It will take a victory over a next-level foe or a poor performance — or loss — by Crawford for that to happen.
Alvarez has said he’s open to fighting anyone at 168 pounds or below, including fellow beltholder Caleb Plant, David Benavidez, rival Gennadiy Golovkin, Jermall Charlo and Errol Spence Jr.
If the Mexican star can beat most or all of those fighters, then we’ll certainly revisit this discussion.
Meanwhile, Crawford, coming off his knockout of Kell Brook in November, still doesn’t have his next fight set. He had better get busy or we’re going to forget about him, which might be another way he could fall from the top position.
Seven of the 20 fighters on our list (Top 15 and five Honorable Mentions) have fights scheduled. HM Josh Taylor is next up. The Scot will face Jose Ramirez in a much-anticipated140-pound title-unification fight on May 22 in Las Vegas.
Here is where the pound-for-pounders stand.
BOXING JUNKIE
POUND-FOR-POUND
- Terence Crawford — No fight scheduled.
- Canelo Alvarez – Expected to fight Caleb Plant to unify all four major 168-pound titles in September but no deal is in place.
- Naoya Inoue — Scheduled to fight Michael Dasmarinas on June 19.
- Errol Spence Jr. – No fight scheduled.
- Oleksandr Usyk – In talks to face Joe Joyce for the WBO “interim” heavyweight title.
- Teofimo Lopez — Scheduled to defend his 135-pound titles against George Kambosos Jr. on June 5.
- Vasiliy Lomachenko — Scheduled to fight Masayoshi Nakatani on June 26.
- Tyson Fury – In talks to face Anthony Joshua in a heavyweight title-unification bout this summer.
- Gennadiy Golovkin — Reportedly in talks to face Ryota Murata in a middleweight title-unification fight in December.
- Juan Francisco Estrada — The WBC announced that Estrada will meet Roman Gonzalez in a third fight as part of a junior bantamweight tournament but nothing is official.
- Mikey Garcia — No fight scheduled.
- Artur Beterbiev — No fight scheduled.
- Manny Pacquiao — No fight scheduled
- Jermell Charlo — Scheduled to face Brian Castano in a 154-pound title-unification fight on July 17.
- Gervonta Davis — Scheduled to face Mario Barrios in a 140-pound bout on June 26.
Honorable mention (alphabetical order): Mairis Briedis (no fight scheduled), Jermall Charlo (scheduled to face Juan Montiel on June 19), Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (The WBC announced that Sor Rungvisai will meet Carlos Cuadras as part of a junior bantamweight tournament but nothing is official), Josh Taylor (scheduled to fight Jose Ramirez on May 22) and Oscar Valdez (no fight scheduled).
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