Why Canelo Alvarez Won't Get IBF No. 1 Ranking After Terence Crawford Loss

Unlike the other major sanctioning bodies, don't expect Canelo Alvarez to get a No. 1 ranking with the IBF.

May 7, 2022; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Canelo Alvarez (pink trunks) and Dimitry Bivol (black trunks) box during their light heavyweight championship bout at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Mexican boxing icon Canelo Alvarez suffered his third defeat in his esteemed professional boxing career after facing Terence Crawford on September 13.

All of Canelo's three losses (to Crawford last month, to Dmitry Bivol in 2022, and to Floyd Mayweather in 2013) have come to generational greats in extremely high profile (and lucrative) bouts. Therefore, there's no shame in Canelo coming up short against these guys, even though Crawford was jumping up several weight classes to fight him.

Of course, Canelo would surely prefer not to have lost his undisputed super middleweight titles to Crawford. But that isn't going to keep him from earning a staggering amount of money in his next fight.

Sep 13, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Canelo Alvarez (black/gold trunks) and Terence Crawford (not pictured) box during their super middleweight title bout at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Why Canelo Alvarez's IBF Ranking Is Going to Turn Heads

One of the most interesting things to watch in the wake of Canelo's defeat to Crawford is where he lands in the super middleweight rankings for the four major sanctioning bodies (WBO, WBA, WBC, and IBF). Given that Canelo has been a champion for several of these sanctioning bodies for years now, one would imagine that he'll easily claim that No. 1 ranking in all four, right under Crawford.

And that has been the case for three of these sanctioning bodies. The WBO's most recent rankings showed that Canelo has secured the No. 1 spot in their 168-pound rankings, and the WBC did the same earlier in September.

The third sanctioning body to release its new super middleweight rankings is the WBA, which came out on September 30. And Canelo also took the No. 1 spot below Crawford and interim champion Jose Armando Resendiz.

IMAGO / Hoganphotos

That leaves the IBF. While they still haven't released their rankings, a quirk with how they decide to rank their fighters shows that Canelo is going to drop quite far in the rankings when it does come out.

The IBF has a preference to keep its top spots (particularly the No. 1 spot) vacant unless a boxer wins an elimination bout. Because there was a title eliminator bout between Osleys Iglesias and Vladimir Shishkin on September 4 (which Iglesias won by stoppage), Iglesias will almost certainly take the No. 1 spot, and Canelo will come in at No. 2.

Ultimately, Canelo being No. 2 in the rankings as opposed to No. 1 don't hurt his chances or rematching against Crawford or diminish his star power. But Canelo hasn't been at No. 2 in any super middleweight ranking in a long, long time.

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