Boxing Pound-for-Pound Rankings: Canelo’s Loss Is Crawford’s Gain
Joe Camporeale/USA Today Sports
Well … this just got interesting.
For months, boxing pound-for-pound lists—including this one—have been fairly stable. Canelo Álvarez, a four-division titleholder, has been cemented at the top. Terence Crawford, Naoya Inoue, Oleksandr Usyk and Errol Spence Jr., in some order, filled in the slots beneath him. There would be some movement toward the bottom, but most lists didn’t spark much debate.
All that changed Saturday, when Dmitry Bivol, the undefeated (and largely unknown) light heavyweight titleholder knocked off Álvarez, defeating Canelo by unanimous decision. It was stunning to watch Álvarez, who collected all four super middleweight belts in 11 months, who knocked out Sergey Kovalev at 175 pounds just three years earlier, take that much punishment. Often a predator in the ring, Álvarez became the prey against the physically stronger fighter.
Álvarez’s place on pound-for-pound lists is sure to spark discussion. So, too, will Bivol’s. Is one landmark win enough to catapult Bivol into the top 10? Bivol’s win over Canelo gave him the edge in their budding rivalry, but he may not even be the top fighter in his weight class, not with unified titleholder Artur Beterbiev on the scene.
And what about Shakur Stevenson? A week before Canelo-Bivol, Stevenson was in Las Vegas scoring a lopsided decision win over Óscar Valdez. Stevenson has long looked like the total package, with speed, skill and impeccable footwork. But the win over Valdez, along with a 130-pound title-winning knockout of Jamel Herring in the fight before, gave him the kind of résumé to back those skills up.
Is it enough to land Stevenson in the top 10?
Let’s unpack all that in SI’s latest pound-for-pound rankings.
1 – Terence Crawford
Record: 38–0
Last Month: 2
Last Fight: TKO win vs. Shawn Porter
Next Fight: TBD
Immediately after Dmitry Bivol’s win over Canelo Álvarez, Crawford tweeted, “We know who No. 1 is now.” Indeed, Álvarez’s loss is Crawford’s gain. The former undisputed 140-pound champion has beefed up his 147-pound résumé of late, most recently with a knockout win over Shawn Porter last fall. Crawford, 34, could have a chance to solidify his place atop the list as soon as this summer: Both Crawford and Errol Spence Jr. have expressed interest in making a fight that would crown an undisputed welterweight champion.
2 – Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez
Record: 57-2-2
Last Month: 1
Last Fight: UD loss vs. Dmitry Bivol
Next Fight: TBD
Critics will say Álvarez should drop further on this list after his nine-year, 17-fight unbeaten streak came to an end May 7. But Álvarez chased greatness when he moved up in weight (again) to challenge arguably the top light heavyweight in boxing when there were safer, more marketable options at 168 pounds. He lost, but Canelo’s résumé remains the best in boxing, and his status as the undisputed super middleweight champion remains intact. Álvarez says he will exercise his rematch clause with Bivol, though there may be internal discussions about whether Álvarez, 31, who began his career fighting in the low 140s, should reconsider campaigning at 175 pounds.
3 – Oleksandr Usyk
Record: 19–0
Last Month: 3
Last Fight: UD win vs. Anthony Joshua
Next Fight: TBA vs. Anthony Joshua
Three years removed from winning the undisputed cruiserweight championship, Usyk picked up three pieces of the heavyweight title last October, stunning Anthony Joshua in a one-sided fight. In his third fight in the division, Usyk looked elite, blending high-level skills—Usyk won gold in the 2012 Olympics at heavyweight—with a filled-out frame. After spending most of March in Ukraine, Usyk, 35, has left his country to begin training camp for the rematch with Joshua, tentatively scheduled for July.
4 – Naoya Inoue
Record: 22–0
Last Month: 4
Last Fight: TKO win vs. Aran Dipaen
Next Fight: June 7 vs. Nonito Donaire
The unified bantamweight titleholder is the most devastating puncher in the lighter weight classes, with all but three of his wins coming by knockout. He picked up an eighth-round TKO win over Aran Dipaen in a stay busy fight in December. Up next: a rematch with Nonito Donaire, the biggest fight in the 118-pound division.
5 – Errol Spence Jr.
Record: 28–0
Last Month: 5
Last Fight: TKO win vs. Yordenis Ugás
Next Fight: TBD
Spence, 31, continued his assault on the top names in the welterweight division last month, stopping Yordenis Ugás 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 ’21—Spence continues to roll through the best fighters in his weight class. A showdown with Crawford 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
Last month’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, 33, blends impressive boxing skills with a strong résumé. 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 will retire, but don’t expect him to pass on a title unification fight against the winner of Oleksandr Usyk–Anthony Joshua, which is slated for mid-summer.
7 – Josh Taylor
Record: 19–0
Last Month: 7
Last Fight: SD win vs. Jack Catterall
Next Fight: TBD
Taylor, 31, followed up a clean sweep of the World Boxing Super Series 140-pound tournament—which included wins over then unbeaten Ryan Martin, Ivan Baranchyk and Regis Prograis—with a title unifying win over Jose Ramirez and a narrow, and hotly disputed, decision over Jack Catterall in February. While Taylor has left the door open for another fight at 140, he’s likely headed for welterweight, perhaps for a lucrative showdown with Crawford.
8 – Vasyl Lomachenko
Record: 16–2
Last Month: 8
Last Fight: UD win vs. Richard Commey
Next Fight: TBD
No titles, no problem for Lomachenko, who even belt-less is 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 Teófimo López in 2020. The question now: What will Lomachenko do next? The war in Ukraine forced Lomachenko to pass on an agreed-upon deal to face George Kambosos Jr.. It’s likely Lomachenko will wait to see how Kambosos’s fight with Devin Haney plays out in June before making a decision on his next fight.
9 – Shakur Stevenson
Record: 18–0
Last Month: Not ranked
Last Fight: UD win vs. Óscar Valdez
Next Fight: TBD
Stevenson, 24, makes his debut on SI’s pound-for-pound list after a lopsided decision win over Óscar Valdez last month. Stevenson, a 2016 Olympic silver medalist, has been on a roll of late, capturing titles in two divisions while dominating the biggest names, including Jamel Herring, who Stevenson stopped last October. Armed with a pair of 130-pound titles, Stevenson could look to unify further. The biggest fight, though, is a division up, where Vasyl Lomachenko operates. A Stevenson-Lomachenko fight would match two of the top amateurs of this generation—and be one of the biggest fights in the lower weight classes.
10 – Dmitry Bivol
Record: 20–0
Last Month: Not Ranked
Last Fight: UD win vs. Canelo Álvarez
Next Fight: TBD
Bivol, 31, had solid credentials before defeating Álvarez. He was a decorated amateur with pro wins over Joe Smith Jr., Sullivan Barrera and Jean Pascal. Against Álvarez, Bivol showcased his full arsenal, utilizing speed, power and precise combination punching to hand Álvarez his second professional defeat. Bivol is contractually obligated to a rematch, but if Álvarez elects to drop back to super middleweight, Bivol could face the winner of next month’s unification fight between Smith and Artur Beterbiev.
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