By Rene Umanzor

Former four division world champion Juan Manuel Marquez has stated that Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (42-0-1, 30KOs) should not be regarded as one of the best in the world because of this past Saturday's unification win over Austin Trout. Canelo unified the WBA/WBC junior middleweight titles with a close twelve round unanimous decision at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. 

"A win over Trout [does] not confirm that [Canelo] is the best, because there are higher quality opponents out there. This [is] an important step for Canelo and [a win over Trout gives him] access to bigger fights. He has to face the right opponents and prove that he is a great fighter - opponents like Sergio 'Maravilla' Martinez, Vanes Martirosyan, Erislandy Lara. He has to fight against those kind of opponents to prove that he's among the best in the world. That's where it should be confirmed [that he's great] and where [he will] gain greater credibility," said Marquez.

Rene Umanzor covers boxing in Mexico for The Record.