Future Hall of Famer Juan Manuel Marquez was in Las Vegas last week to cover the Canelo Alvarez-Sergey Kovalev showdown at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Canelo won the fight via vicious knockout in the 11th round with a sharp two-punch combination.

Prior to the knockout the fight was very close.  Canelo was up on 2 of the judge's scorecards 96-94 with the third judge having the bout tied at 95-95.  Marquez also had Canelo ahead and said that the 29-year-old's counter punching played a big factor.

"I had it 96-94. Sometimes styles make the fights. I think Kovalev landed some power shots but Canelo used his counter punching very well and Kovalev was scared to get countered. I think that was the difference," Marquez told a group of reporters after the fight.

Prior to the fight many publications had Canelo ranked #3 on their pound-for-pound lists.  With the victory Canelo became the second Mexican to capture a world title at 175 pounds and now simultaneously holds titles in 3 different weight classes.

After the fight some experts moved the Jalisco native to the the top spot on their list of the best boxers in the world.  In Marquez's opinion, he still has 3-division champions Terence Crawford and Vasiliy Lomachenko above Alvarez.

"Yes he proved something very important for boxing for Mexican people.  He needs to keep training and working hard.  He has demonstrated that he is very good. He moved up in weight and won another fight which is very important but there is also Terence Crawford at #1 and we have Vasiliy Lomachenko who is right up there. In my point of view I have Canelo at #3. He won a great fight but look, Crawford hasn't ever lost and look at what Lomachenko has done.  We have to take all that into account," said Marquez.

Send questions or comments to ringsidewriter@gmail.com You can follow Ryan on Twitter @ringsidewriter