It’s Canelo Alvarez’s world at 168 pounds, and everyone else just living in it. 

The undisputed super middleweight champion Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 KOs) has ruled the division with an iron fist over the last four years, dominating the likes of Gennadiy Golovkin, Caleb Plant, Jermell Charlo, Billy Joe Saunders, Callum Smith, John Ryder, and Avni Yildirim.

Alvarez’s only blemish along the way was a unanimous decision loss at 175 pounds to Dmitry Bivol in 2022.

The Mexican star still has serious options to consider at 168 pounds.

Sitting atop the list is former two-time division beltholder David Benavidez.

Trailing Benavidez is a group of contenders headlined by Jaime Munguia, David Morrell, Christian Mbilli, Erik Bazinyan, Diego Pacheco, and Edgar Berlanga.

Berlanga (21-0, 16 KOs) is looking to get a crack at Alvarez in May by first scoring a dominant win against Padraig McCrory (18-0, 9 KOs) on Feb. 24 at the Caribe Royale in Orlando. 

But should Benavidez ultimately prove to win the Alvarez sweepstakes, Berlanga believes Benavidez will be the victor in the bout as well.  

“Yeah, I think [Benavidez] could beat [Alvarez] just for the simple fact of his conditioning, good defense, punch output, and that he can take a punch. If he can take Canelo's shots he can possibly breeze through Canelo,” Berlanga told BoxingScene.com in an interview.

“Canelo is not that guy that he was five, six years ago who was throwing combinations. Canelo is a guy now who just loads up on one punch to try to knock you out or break down your arms, fake, and shoot. Benavidez lets his hands fly. I think it will be a good fight if Benavidez doesn't let the moment get to him. A lot of guys get in front of Canelo and they feel his presence. They don't fight the way they are supposed to be fighting. It's different. Same thing with Jermell Charlo. He looked amazing in his fights and as soon as he gets in the ring he is running circles. He made himself look like a f------ clown. You can't go up there and b!tch out. 

“I'm open. After this fight and dominating this dude, I am open arms to taking a big fight.”

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.