Boxing

Canelo Alvarez And Gervonta Davis' Position On 'Best Boxers' List Raises Eyebrows

A recent fan ranking of the world's greatest boxers is causing a lot of speculation.
Grant Young|
GERVONTA DAVIS (30-0-28) of Baltimore, Maryland defeats FRANK MARTIN (18-1-12) on June 15, 2024.
GERVONTA DAVIS (30-0-28) of Baltimore, Maryland defeats FRANK MARTIN (18-1-12) on June 15, 2024. | IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

It has been decades since the sport of boxing has been as hot as it is right now. A huge reason for this recent boom in popularity is owed to Turki Alalshikh of Riyadh Season, as he has proven time and time again that he's willing to pay the world's best fighters enough money to entice them to fight against other superstars, which means the fights that fans want to see are actually happening.

Not to mention that the sweet science is ripe with superstars in numerous different weight divisions right now, many of whom hail from vastly different parts of the world. Getting to see these world-class warriors go toe-to-toe against each other has ensured that boxing remains relevant in the pop culture sphere.

And undoubtedly two of the sport's biggest stars right now are Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Gervonta "Tank" Davis.

Neither Tank nor Canelo impressed in their most recent fights. For Tank, this was his controversial majority draw against Lamont Roach on March 1. And for Canelo, it was a lethargic victory over William Scull on May 3.

However, these sub-par performances didn't keep Canelo and Gervonta from dropping in a June 7 article from Ranker, which provided a fan ranking of the best male boxers right now. Nearly 10,000 votes were cast.

Canelo was ranked at No. 2 on the list while Tank was at No. 4. These rankings raised eyebrows, especially because Canelo was ranked above Dmitry Bivol (No. 3), who beat Canelo a few years ago. And Davis being ranked above pound-for-pound greats like Terence Crawford (No. 5), Artur Beterbiev (No. 6), and Naoya Inoue (No. 7) didn't sit well with many.

What's for sure is that unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk earning the No. 1 spot in the ranking is well-deserved. And most would also agree that Ryan Garcia earning the No. 8 spot is ridiculous, especially after his recent loss to Rolly Romero.

The top 20 boxers on the list are below.

20. Jai Opetaia

19. Tim Tszyu

18. Devin Haney

17. Murodjon Akhmadaliev

16. Errol Spence Jr.

15. Teofimo Loperz

14. Shakur Stevenson

13. Anthony Joshua

12. Gennady Golovkin

11. Vasiliy Lomachenko

10. Tyson Fury

9. David Benavidez

8. Ryan Garcia

7. Naoya Inoue

6. Artur Beterbiev

5. Terence Crawford

4. Gervonta Davis

3. Dmitry Bivol

2. Canelo Alvarez

1. Oleksandr Usyk

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young is a Staff Writer for On SI’s Boxing, New York Mets, Indiana Fever, and Women’s Fastbreak sites. Before joining SI in 2024, he wrote for various boxing and sports verticals such as FanBuzz and NY Fights. Young has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in creative writing with an emphasis on sports nonfiction from the University of San Francisco, where he played five seasons of Division 1 baseball. He fought Muay Thai professionally in Thailand in 2023, loves a good essay, and is driven crazy trying to handle a pitpull puppy named Aura. Young lives in San Diego and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.