Philippines, 10 Oct 2025
  Home >> News

 


BOXERS

CURRENT CHAMPIONS 

FORMER CHAMPIONS   

RATINGS                       

NEWS           

FORUM        

FIGHT GALLERIES        

RING CARD GIRLS        


 
 
News  


Does Canelo Alvarez Deserve To Stay as Top Pound for Pound Fighter After Loss to Dmitri Bivol?


PhilBoxing.com




Should Ukrainian heavyweight champion Oleksander Usyk takes over as the top Pound for Pound Fighter from Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez, he has to thank a fighter from Russia which his country is fighting a war to resist invasion for making that possible.

Alvarez last weekend suffered only his second career defeat when he dropped a generously close unanimous decision to Russian WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitri Bivol in a failed try to win a second world title at 175 lbs. The identical 115-113 scores submitted by the judges did not reflect what live, television and online boxing audience saw as a complete domination and supremacy of Bivol. Indeed, one would be hard pressed to identify another round that Alvarez clearly won except for the 10th when Bivol was already on cruising mode to a comfortable win. One network even scored the fight 118-110 for Bivol which was nearer to what actually transpired in the match.

The Ring Magazine which had Canelo as its top Pound for pound Fighter would be hard pressed to keep him in there as its ratings board usually frown upon its top P4P Fighter losing dismally against particularly a fighter not rated in its top 10 Pound for Pound list as Bivol was.

The Ring immediately demoted its previous number one Pound for pound fighters as in the case of Roman 'Chocolatito' Gonzalez who lost by knockout to Srisaket Sor Rungvusai in 2018 and Vasiliy Lomachenko who lost by unanimous decision to Teofimo Lopez in 2019.

Josh Taylor who cracked the Ring pound for pound list with wins over Regis Prograis and Jose Ramirez also went down in his recent ranking after a scrambling title defense win over Jack Catteral.

Will the Ring do the same with Alvarez?

Some observers said this is not likely as Canelo fought above his natural weight division which is super middleweight or 168 lbs limit where he has won and currently holds all four major belts. In fact he fought Bivol two divisions above the middleweight where he first won the Ring Magazine recognition as Pound for pound best fighter with his victory, controversial as it was, over Gennadiy Golovkin in 2019.

It is more likely that the Ring Magazine will keep Canelo on the top of its Pound for Pound rankings pending the result of the fight of its second best fighter Oleksander Usyk against Anthony Joshua in July which is actually a rematch of their encounter for the WBA, WBO and IBF unified heavyweight titles won by Usyk last year. The actual date and venue of that fight however has yet to be finalized in view of the Russian invasion of Ukraine which for a time took Usyk's attention from boxing. His wife also reported that Usyk has lost 10 kilograms during the first week of the invasion, a disturbing news since Usyk was essentially a blown up cruiserweight.

Other ranking bodies that have Canelo Alvarez as their top Pound for pound fighter as the Transnational Boxing Ratings Board (TBRB), ESPN, YouSports and World Boxing Network or WBN would have to come to grips with this Canelo question, too.

Spared from this issue is the Boxrec.com which has Tyson Fury as its top Pound for Pound fighter since last year. Fury fortified his position with a dominating knockout win over Dillian Whyte weeks before the Canelo-Bivol fight.

That Canelo recent loss may also pressure the Ring Magazine to review its top ten pound for pound list in view of the lingering questions about the continued non inclusion of Fury, the WBC and Ring Magazine lineal world heavyweight champion and fighters as Shakur Stevenson, Gervonta Tank Davis and the resurgent Nonito Donaire who is fighting Ring #4 Naoya Inoue in June.

The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.


Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.


Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:

  • “Pitbull” Cruz Battles Skilled Lamont Roach Next!
    By Carlos Costa, , Fri, 10 Oct 2025
  • Eddie Hearn Warns: Dana White's Push to Amend Ali Act Could Hide Fighter Revenues and Undermine Boxer Protections
    By Gabriel F. Cordero, , Fri, 10 Oct 2025
  • SEBASTIAN "EL TRUENO" JUAREZ TRAINING CAMP NOTES
    , Fri, 10 Oct 2025
  • WBC No. 2 Cruiserweight Ryan Rozicki reinjured
    , Fri, 10 Oct 2025
  • DAVE ALLEN VS ARSLANBEK MAKHMUDOV SHEFFIELD PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
    , Fri, 10 Oct 2025
  • HANOI OPEN DAY TWO: CHUA, GORST, BIADO, SHAW AND DUONG CRUISE INTO LAST 64 IN HANOI
    , Fri, 10 Oct 2025
  • BOSTAN AND FAWAZ TRADE VERBAL BLOWS IN SHEFFIELD CITY CENTRE FACE-OFF AHEAD OF TITLE REMATCH – LIVE ON DAZN
    , Fri, 10 Oct 2025
  • Yoelvis Gomez Set to Face Unbeaten Antraveous Ingram in Title Clash on DAZN
    , Fri, 10 Oct 2025
  • Dante Kirkman Set to Make Southern California Debut Against Power Puncher Wesley Vanderlinden on October 23 at Fight Club OC
    , Fri, 10 Oct 2025
  • 8th AQ Prime FIDE Standard Open chessfest slated
    By Dong Secuya, , Thu, 09 Oct 2025
  • A Filipino and an American Homecoming
    By Emmanuel Rivera, RRT, , Thu, 09 Oct 2025
  • Tragedy Strikes Again: Arturo Gatti Jr., Son of Boxing Legend, Found Dead at 17 in Mexico
    By Dong Secuya, , Thu, 09 Oct 2025
  • Golden State Making a Bid for NBA Title
    By Teodoro Medina Reynoso, , Thu, 09 Oct 2025
  • JOHANN CHUA LAUNCHES TITLE DEFENCE WITH DOMINANT START IN HANOI | 2025 HANOI OPEN POOL CHAMPIONSHIP
    , Thu, 09 Oct 2025
  • RED-HOT CUBAN MIDDLEWEIGHT YOENLI HERNANDEZ: “I’M READY WILLING AND ABSOLUTELY ABLE TO FACE THE BIG NAMES IN MY DIVISION.”
    , Thu, 09 Oct 2025
  • BOOTS ENNIS GOES HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH LIMA AHEAD OF 154LB DEBUT – LIVE ON DAZN
    , Wed, 08 Oct 2025
  • ALLEN AND MAKHMUDOV MEET FOR FIRST FACE-OFF IN SHEFFIELD AHEAD OF HUGE HEAVYWEIGHT SHOWDOWN – LIVE ON DAZN
    , Wed, 08 Oct 2025
  • Amateur Boxer Tyrone Welch Dies After Match in Saginaw
    By Gabriel F. Cordero, , Wed, 08 Oct 2025
  • AJ Lim Captures Fourth PCA Men’s Singles Title, Extends Dominance in Philippine Tennis
    By Marlon Bernardino, , Wed, 08 Oct 2025
  • THRILLA IN MANILA GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY 18: JOE FRAZIER VS. GEORGE FOREMAN FIRST ENCOUNTER - THE SUNSHINE SHOWDOWN
    By Maloney L. Samaco, , Wed, 08 Oct 2025
  • 5th Zhengxing Cup Philippine Xiangqi Rapid Open tournament on October 12
    By Marlon Bernardino, , Wed, 08 Oct 2025
  • Joey Canoy back in training; preparing to face IBF champ Beaven Sibanda in February
    By Lito delos Reyes, , Wed, 08 Oct 2025
  • RED OWL BOXING ANNOUNCES BROADCAST TEAM AND FULL FIGHT CARD FOR THIS FRIDAY NIGHT’S “BOXFEST XVI”
    , Wed, 08 Oct 2025
  • Tyson Fury back in 2026?
    By Gabriel F. Cordero, , Tue, 07 Oct 2025
  • THE PAST WEEK IN ACTION 6 OCTOBER 2025: Cecilia Braekhaus Retires After Defeating Ema Kozin
    By Eric Armit, , Tue, 07 Oct 2025




  •  



     
    PhilBoxing.com has been created to support every aspiring
    Filipino boxer and the Philippine boxing scene in general.
    Please send comments to feedback@philboxing.com


    PRIVATE POLICY | LEGAL DISCLAIMER
    developed and maintained by dong secuya
    © 2025 philboxing.com.