World Boxing News has gone against the grain of late as many suggested Terence Crawford was ahead of Canelo Alvarez as the pound for pound number one.
Back in May of 2019, Canelo reached the summit of the sport for the first time. In November 2019, and after being briefly overhauled by Vasyl Lomachenko, Canelo has firmly held the top spot with nobody able to touch him.
WBN has argued the case that Crawford doesn’t possess the names on his record yet. The highly-talented American is currently lying sixth on the WBN P4P Top 50 list.
As we all know, nobody got a look in at the number one position until after Floyd Mayweather retired and Manny Pacquiao lost to Jeff Horn controversially and made merely fleeting ring appearances.
From 2015, though, no fewer than six fighters have held the top spot. Canelo, with his remarkable resume, has the opportunity to dominate from now.
His victory over Callum Smith, a fighter many rated a lot higher than WBN (42nd on the WBN P4P Top 50), was predicted. But it was the sheer manner of which Canelo took the Englishman apart.
Like the Sergey Kovalev clash, Canelo was able to do whatever he wanted in there at a much higher weight than previously overwhelming triumphs.
The Golovkin saga undoubtedly had a detrimental effect on Canelo’s rating due to the first fight’s nature. That struggle added to already aired disgruntlement from the Mexican’s win over Erislandy Lara.
Therefore, it took four long years for Canelo to finally reach his destiny as the sport’s face and name moving forward.
The only thing missing from his current status is a multi-million dollar Pay Per View run.
CANELO RESUME
Upon witnessing Saturday night, a lot of people have changed their tune. Canelo is rated as the best by many who previously refused to recognize the 30-year-old.
Four-weight world champions, ignored in the past due to a ‘regular’ version, cannot be denied. Canelo is, without doubt, miles ahead of anyone.
Not a single fighter can compete with his C.V.
Crawford needs to fight Errol Spence or Manny Pacquiao. Spence, likewise, has to fight them both.
If either of those can win two contests of a round robin series, they would be able to run Canelo close, indeed.
But Canelo has a firm leg up. And he intends to keep facing the top fighters between 160 and 175 pounds.
At this rate, Saul Canelo Alvarez could prove impossible to catch.
Welcome bandwagoners. What took you so long.
The views expressed in this article are that of the Editor, Phil Jay. WBN celebrated its 10th Anniversary on August 1st, 2020, and is the top-visited independent boxing news website in the world.
Phil Jay is an Auxiliary member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Follow on Twitter @PhilDJay
