Canelo Alvarez is riding high at the top of the pound for pound rankings, an on-and-off position held since 2019, six years after a loss to Floyd Mayweather on points.
The Mexican superstar took over in May of 2019 following a unification triumph over Danny Jacobs. Only Vasyl Lomachenko stopped Canelo from reigning alone since 2018.
Lomachenko put the brakes on Canelo being number one despite defeating Gennadiy Golovkin in late 2018. Only the manner of the victories was a hindrance to Canelo.
Many thought he lost the first bout, including a massively one-sided WBN scorecard of 118-110 in favor of GGG. In the rematch, WBN had Golovkin winning again 115-113.
Just the sheer nature of how things went down left Lomachenko to rule, an honor added to his 2016 WBN Fighter of the Year Award.
Golovkin took the award in 2017 due to his Canelo efforts, which will get remembered in the history books as a thinly-veiled draw.
FLOYD MAYWEATHER
Dusting himself down, though, Canelo has been all-conquering ever since. The Floyd Mayweather fight being the catalyst to the years that followed.
Despite being defeated quite handily by Floyd, Canelo was given a draw on one of the cards, covered extensively by WBN with judge CJ Ross.
Debates will always be open with some Canelo scorecards. The same could be said about Mayweather, though.
The fact is, Canelo has consistently improved year upon year. By 2019, there was nobody to touch him, despite some pound-for-pound lists having Terence Crawford on top without any actual warrant.
Canelo is his own man now. He controls all aspects of his career and enlists the help of a promoter to take off some of the load, again as Mayweather did with Al Haymon.
At 30, he’s the top dog, the number uno, and the most recognizable face on networks for the last two years.
Manny Pacquiao being out of commission due to his political work has helped with this immensely. Canelo has enjoyed a clear run at breaking records. The latest being the all-time indoor attendance benchmark – during a pandemic too!
UNBEATABLE FORCE
Eddy Reynoso deserves credit for the way he’s kept Canelo disciplined too. Only a failed drug test, blamed on Mexican meat, has threatened to derail Canelo’s ascent.
The recent win over Billy Joe Saunders served to cement what many already knew. That at present, Canelo is an unbeatable force. It could take a long time and a super-exceptional fighter to knock him off his perch.
As Canelo holds burning ambition, it’s predicted a run at light-heavyweight will follow soon. Even a title shot at cruiser, bridger, or heavyweight before he eventually retires.
Emulating Floyd as a five-weight world champion, Mexico’s first, is undoubtedly within Canelo’s grasp and definitely on his future radar.
All hail the king!
