In the eyes of the sanctioning bodies, even though Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is no longer the best super middleweight in the world, he is still ranked highly at 168lbs.
Alvarez, 63-3-2 (39 KOs), lost the undisputed championship to Terence Crawford on September 13, dropping a clear unanimous decision. In the days afterward, the WBC was the first organization with updated rankings showing Canelo slotted No. 1 at super middleweight, behind Crawford and interim titleholder Christian Mbilli.
Now the WBO has followed suit in its new ratings, which were released on September 25 and reflect results as of September 15. Crawford had previously been ranked No. 1 by the WBO as of July. His victory over Canelo left that first spot vacant, and that’s where Canelo now sits.
Canelo is followed by Hamzah Sheeraz at No. 2, then Diego Pacheco, Jacob Bank, Alem Begic, Simon Zhachenhuber, Paulinus Ndjolonimu, Kevin Lele Sadjo, Jaime Munguia, Callum Simpson, Bektemir Melikuziev, Edgar Berlanga, Bruno Surace, Ali Akhmedov and Lester Martinez.
As for the WBA, it typically releases its ratings updates on the first day of each month and currently has Melikuziev at No. 1 (and Jose Armando Resendiz as its interim titleholder). That could change by next week.
The IBF, which typically puts out its rankings in the first week of each month, had its No. 1 spot vacant in its early September update – but the October update should have Osleys Iglesias in that position, as he stopped Vladimir Shishkin in an elimination bout earlier this month.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
