Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, no longer undisputed at super middleweight, finds himself in an unfamiliar position in the rankings for the first time in years:
As a contender, not the champion.
Canelo lost the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO world titles to Terence Crawford on September 13. The WBC is the first sanctioning body since then to release a rankings update, which came out on September 17.
Canelo, 63-3-2 (39 KOs), is now in the No. 1 slot at 168lbs.
That doesn’t make Canelo the mandatory contender for Crawford. Rather, the WBC has an interim titleholder, Christian Mbilli, 29-0-1 (24 KOs), who retained his secondary belt with a draw against Lester Martinez in a Fight of the Year candidate on the undercard of Canelo-Crawford.
Of course, Canelo’s marketability would likely mean the WBC would allow for a lucrative rematch with Crawford, if that’s the route both men wish to go.
Canelo’s insertion at No. 1 did push down the man who had previously been in that slot. Hamzah Sheeraz is now No. 2, followed by Jaime Munguia, Martinez, Osleys Iglesias, Jermall Charlo, Luka Plantic, Diego Pacheco, Bektemir Melikuziev, Kevin Lele Sadjo, Callum Simpson, Caleb Plant, Immanuwel Aleem, Deok No Yun and Erik Bazinyan.
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.
