Terence Crawford Recaptures Boxing Throne
After an impressive victory over Canelo Álvarez, Terence Crawford rises to the top of Alofoke Deportes’ pound-for-pound ranking, surpassing Oleksandr Usyk. After 16 months, Terence “Bud” Crawford returns to the top spot in the pound-for-pound boxing rankings. The change comes after Crawford’s victory over Canelo Álvarez last Saturday, a triumph that catapulted him from third place to the top. Crawford (42-0, 31 KOs) demonstrated his superiority by defeating Canelo Álvarez by unanimous decision in Las Vegas. The victory not only secured him the top spot, but also made him the only boxer in the four-belt era (since 2007) to be undisputed champion in three divisions: super lightweight, welterweight, and super middleweight. Canelo Álvarez (62-3-2, 39 KOs), a four-division champion, suffered his first defeat since losing to Dmitry Bivol in May 2022, when he moved up a division to challenge for the light heavyweight title. Following his loss to Crawford, Canelo drops two places, landing at number 10.Naoya Inoue and Other Notable Results
In other featured fights, Naoya Inoue successfully defended his undisputed super bantamweight championship with a unanimous decision victory over Murodjon Akhmadaliev in Nagoya, Japan. Despite the victory, Inoue (31-0, 27 KOs) drops one spot in the rankings, landing at number 3. The Alofoke Deportes expert panel, made up of prominent analysts, issued their votes for the ranking.- 1. TERENCE CRAWFORD
- 2. OLEKSANDR USYK
- 3. NAOYA INOUE
- 4. DMITRY BIVOL
- 5. JESSE RODRIGUEZ
- 6. ARTUR BETERBIEV
- 7. SHAKUR STEVENSON
- 8. DAVID BENAVIDEZ
- 9. JUNTO NAKATANI
- 10. CANELO ALVAREZ
OLEKSANDR USYKRecord: 24-0, 15 KOsDivision: Heavyweight (undisputed champion)Last fight: KO victory in the fifth round (KO5) vs. Daniel Dubois, July 19th.Next fight: To be confirmed.Don’t be fooled by the tight scorecards (116-112, 115-113, and 115-113); Crawford was absolutely brilliant in overcoming Canelo to become the undisputed super middleweight champion. The personification of what it means to be a pound-for-pound boxer, Crawford moved up two weight classes and dominated another pound-for-pound boxer, one widely considered the face of boxing, leaving him frustrated at the end of the fight. With his third undisputed status, Crawford establishes himself as the best pound-for-pound boxer today and, possibly, of this generation.
Andreas Hale
NAOYA INOUERecord: 31-0, 27 KOsDivision: Super bantamweight (undisputed champion)Last fight: Unanimous decision victory (UD12) vs. Murodjon Akhmadaliev, September 14.Next fight: December 27 vs. David Picasso.Usyk is beginning to claim his place as the best heavyweight of this century, his definitive victory over Dubois makes him the undisputed champion once again. There would be no controversy in this rematch, as Usyk eliminated Dubois in the fifth round and suffered little damage. Joseph Parker is probably next in line to have his chance, but with two wins each over Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Dubois, there really isn’t much left for Usyk other than to surpass the competition.
Andreas Hale
Error en el proceso de traducciónRecord: 24-1, 12 KOsDivision: Light heavyweight (unified champion)Last fight: Majority decision victory (MD12) vs. Artur Beterbiev, February 22.Next fight: To be confirmed.JESSE RODRIGUEZRecord: 22-0, 15 KOsDivision: Super flyweight (unified champion)Last fight: Victory by technical knockout in the tenth round (TKO10) vs. Phumelela Cafu, July 19.Next fight: November 22 vs. Fernando Daniel Martínez.ARTUR BETERBIEVRecord: 21-1, 20 KOsDivision: Light HeavyweightLast fight: Defeat by majority decision (MD12) vs. Dmitry Bivol, February 22.Next fight: November 22 vs. Deon Nicholson.SHAKUR STEVENSONRecord: 24-0, 11 KOsDivision: Lightweight (champion)Last fight: Unanimous decision victory (UD12) vs. William Zepeda, July 12.Next fight: To be confirmed.DAVID BENAVIDEZRecord: 30-0, 24 KOsDivision: Light heavyweight (champion)Last fight: Unanimous decision victory (UD12) vs. David Morrell, February 1st.Next fight: November 22 vs. Anthony Yarde.JUNTO NAKATANIRecord: 31-0, 24 KOsDivision: Bantamweight (unified champion)Last fight: Victory by technical knockout in the sixth round (TKO6) vs. Ryosuke Nishida, June 8th.Next fight: To be confirmed.CANELO ALVAREZRecord: 63-3-2, 39 KOsDivision: Super MiddleweightLast fight: Unanimous decision (UD12) loss vs. Terence Crawford, September 13th.Next fight: To be confirmed.It’s not that Inoue did anything wrong to drop to number 2, as he was exceptional in dissecting Akhmadaliev. It’s just that it’s really hard to hold off Crawford after what he did to Canelo. However, Inoue continues to show his excellence inside the ring. This time he chose to use his wit and skill to outsmart and completely dominate Akhmadaliev for a wide unanimous decision. He will compete for the fourth time in 2025 when he faces Picasso on December 27, but the fight everyone is waiting for is the All-Japan clash with current bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani in 2026.
Andreas Hale
