For the first time in more than a decade, Canelo Alvarez is no longer considered one of the 10 best fighters on the planet by The Ring. On Monday, The Ring released its updated pound-for-pound rankings, and the omission of the Mexican superstar was impossible to ignore. This isn’t disciplinary, political, or contractual. It’s performance-based and that’s what makes it significant.
The last time Alvarez was absent from The Ring’s P4P top 10 strictly for boxing reasons was in the spring of 2013, shortly after his win over Austin Trout. In the years since, he’s become a four-division champion, the undisputed king at 168, and one of the sport’s biggest global attractions.
Now, he’s on the outside looking in.
From P4P King to P4P Casualty
This isn’t the first time Alvarez has been dropped from The Ring’s pound-for-pound list, but the context is very different.
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In 2018, Alvarez was removed from the rankings and stripped of The Ring middleweight title after testing positive for Clenbuterol ahead of his rematch with Gennadiy Golovkin. He was reinstated later that year after edging Golovkin by majority decision.
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In November 2019, after stopping former light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev, Alvarez was elevated to The Ring’s No. 1 pound-for-pound spot.
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He held that throne until his upset loss to Dmitry Bivol at light heavyweight in May 2022.
This most recent drop is the result of a longer trend: declining dominance, rising competition, and a brutal reality check against Terence Crawford.
Crawford Loss Exposes Decline
Alvarez’s unanimous-decision defeat to Crawford in their undisputed super middleweight title clash in September was more than just a loss it was a visual confirmation of what the numbers had been hinting at.
Canelo hasn’t scored a knockout since stopping Caleb Plant in 2021. Since then, he’s gone 6–2, with largely workmanlike decision wins over:
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An aging Golovkin
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John Ryder
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Jermell Charlo
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Jaime Munguia
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Edgar Berlanga
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William Scull
None of those performances resembled the peak, explosive version of Alvarez who once terrorized three divisions at a time. At 35, with a lot of hard miles on the odometer, the slippage is getting harder to ignore.
At the same time, the sport has moved on at the very top. A new generation of elite fighters David Benavidez, Shakur Stevenson, Devin Haney, among others are stacking high-level wins and pushing into the pound-for-pound conversation Canelo once dominated.
Riyadh, Rematches, and Reality
Alvarez still holds enormous leverage and star power. He’s in the middle of a four-fight deal with Riyadh Season, with two fights remaining. What he does with those dates will likely define how history views the final chapter of his career.
Reports out of Mexico suggest Canelo is interested in a rematch with Crawford. On paper, the rematch sells. In practice, most observers expect a similar result and perhaps an even wider margin. Without the adjustments being dramatic, going back to that well could do more damage than good. With Crawford II not making competitive sense, the meaningful options narrow quickly but clearly:
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Hamzah Sheeraz or Christian Mbilli at super middleweight
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A rematch with Bivol, this time with a more realistic game plan
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Or, the fight the public has demanded for years: David Benavidez at an agreed weight that makes sense for both
Those are the kinds of wins that could credibly push Canelo back into P4P territory. Anything less feels like treading water.
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Robert LaMar is a writer for Dice City Sports. You can follow him on X via @RobertLaMar26
