Canelo Alvarez still considers himself the best fighter, pound-for-pound, in boxing.
The four-division champion’s loss to Dmitry Bivol last May 7 knocked him from atop most credible pound-for-pound lists. Alvarez argued during a virtual interview session Thursday, however, that his accomplishments warrant him remaining in that top spot as he prepares for his fight against British southpaw John Ryder on Saturday night in Zapopan, Mexico.
The undisputed super middleweight champion discussed his pound-for-pound status because he was asked if he believes he could win it back by beating Bivol in a rematch Alvarez is pushing to schedule for September.
“I don’t know, man, but I feel [I’m] the best,” Alvarez said. “I feel I’m the number one because, you know, nobody out there has been doing like me, up and down weight, fighting with the best fighters, champions, and [becoming] undisputed champion in 11 months. And I think I’m the best. I think that I’m the best fighter out there because, you know, no other fighter [does] what I did, what I’ve been doing.”
Alvarez (58-2-2, 39 KOs) is ranked sixth on BoxingScene.com’s most recent pound-for-pound list, one spot below Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs).
The Ring magazine and ESPN.com both have Alvarez fifth in the respective top 10 groups for those outlets. The Ring and ESPN.com also have Bivol listed in the same spot, sixth.
Russia’s Bivol became the first opponent to beat Alvarez in more than 8½ years when he won their 12-round, 175-pound championship bout by unanimous decision almost a year ago at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Former undisputed bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue (24-0, 21 KOs) is the number one fighter according to BoxingScene.com. Japan’s Inoue has won world titles in three weight classes.
Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs), the IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion, is ranked number one by The Ring. Usyk was once boxing’s undisputed cruiserweight champion.
Three-division champion Terence Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) is ranked first by ESPN.com. Crawford, of Omaha, Nebraska, is a former fully unified junior welterweight champion and has owned the WBO welterweight crown for nearly five years.
The 32-year-old Alvarez has won world titles in the junior middleweight, middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight divisions. He’ll defend his IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO 168-pound championships against London’s Ryder (32-5, 18 KOs), who is the mandatory challenger for his WBO belt.
Their fight figures to attract a crowd larger than 50,000 to Akron Stadium, which is located just outside of Alvarez’s hometown of Guadalajara.
DAZN will stream Alvarez-Ryder as the main event of a pay-per-view show scheduled to start at 7 p.m. EDT and 4 p.m. PDT. The card costs $59.99 for subscribers if it is purchased through DAZN’s website, but $79.99 if non-subscribers buy it through cable and satellite companies.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.