Crawford Dethrones Canelo: New Pound-for-Pound Boxing King

Terence Crawford Climbs to the Top Spot in the P4P Ranking After Defeating Canelo Álvarez

Terence “Bud” Crawford returns to the top of boxing, 16 months after being displaced by Oleksandr Usyk. This change comes after Usyk’s victory over Tyson Fury in May 2024, where the Ukrainian conquered the heavyweight title. Crawford (42-0, 31 KOs) achieved an impressive unanimous decision victory over Canelo Álvarez in Las Vegas last Saturday. This victory catapulted Crawford from third place directly to number one. Crawford’s performance was brilliant, moving up two weight classes to challenge Canelo for the undisputed super middleweight championship. This victory also makes 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 by decision to Dmitry Bivol after moving up a division to challenge for the light heavyweight title in May 2022. Following his loss to Crawford, Canelo drops two positions, ranking at number 10. Naoya Inoue was also in action on Sunday in Nagoya, Japan, successfully defending his undisputed super bantamweight championship. He achieved a convincing unanimous decision victory over Murodjon Akhmadaliev. Despite his victory, Inoue (31-0, 27 KOs) dropped one place, landing at number 3 in the ranking. This change reflects the growing support for Crawford, more than any flaw in Inoue’s performance.

Ranking of the Best Pound-for-Pound Boxers

The Alofoke Deportes panel of experts, composed of Andreas Hale, Timothy Bradley Jr., Joe Tessitore, Teddy Atlas, Nick Parkinson, Eric Raskin, Bernardo Osuna, Eric Woodyard, Bernardo Pilatti, Charles Moynihan, Salvador Rodriguez, Claudia Trejos, Jim Zirolli, Michael Mascaro, Aladdin Freeman, Victor Lopez and Damian Delgado Averhoff, cast their votes to determine 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

Detailed Analysis of the Top Positions

Don’t let the close scorecards (116-112, 115-113, and 115-113) fool you; Crawford was absolutely brilliant in overcoming Canelo and becoming the undisputed super middleweight champion. The epitome of what it means to be a pound-for-pound boxer, Crawford moved up two weight classes and dominated another pound-for-pound boxer, 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

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 was no controversy in this rematch, as Usyk knocked out 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.

It’s not that Inoue did anything wrong to drop to number 2, as he was exceptional in dissecting Akhmadaliev. It’s just really hard to hold off Crawford after what he did to Canelo. Nevertheless, 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 with 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 showdown with current bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani in 2026.

Andreas Hale

Bivol avenged his only defeat when he defeated Beterbiev on February 22nd in an excellent performance. He will avoid David Benavidez (for now) as he will likely participate in a rematch with Beterbiev in his next fight. If he is victorious, an expected showdown with Benavidez could be on the menu for 2026. At 25 years old, Rodriguez somehow manages to be underestimated despite his pound-for-pound status. He collected another world title by defeating WBC titleholder Cafu for a finish in the tenth round. When we talk about the smaller weight categories, we often mention Inoue’s name. But perhaps we should talk much more about “Bam”. He will face WBA titleholder Martinez in November, which will be an opportunity to put his name on the ballot for fighter of the year. Beterbiev suffered the only loss of his professional career in a rematch with Bivol on February 22, but still gave a great account of himself against another pound-for-pound fighter. Unfortunately, the tie-breaking match would have to wait, as Bivol opted to undergo back surgery that would keep him out of action until next year. Instead of waiting, Beterbiev will stay active and face Nicholson on the Riyadh season card on November 22, headlined by David Benavidez against Anthony Yarde. Stevenson finally got the type of opponent that the fans were asking for and, once again, emerged victorious, adding a bit more aggression to his impeccable tactical style. Stevenson dominated Zepeda on July 12 in New York in an exciting performance. As exceptional as Stevenson has been, the biggest complaint he faces is that he almost makes it look too easy and advances towards victories by decision. He was supposed to have his hands full with a high-volume puncher in Zepeda, but he was able to handle everything Zepeda threw at him. Stevenson used a body jab, uppercuts, and effective combinations to slow down Zepeda and put an end to any complaints about the lack of offense. For whatever reason, nobody wants to fight Benavidez. He did everything he needed to at 168 pounds but couldn’t get a fight with Canelo. Now he finds himself in a similar position at light heavyweight, as Bivol vacated the WBC title to be able to face Beterbiev in a rematch, instead of facing Benavidez. With wins over Caleb Plant, Demetrius Andrade, and David Morrell on his resume, it’s only a matter of time before Benavidez, who is nicknamed “The Mexican Monster”, gets tested against the biggest names in the sport. But first, he will meet Yarde in November. The scary thing is that he’s only 28 years old and hasn’t reached his physical prime. The other pound-for-pound boxer from Japan on this list unified the bantamweight titles on June 8th against IBF titleholder Nishida. “Big Bang” is exciting to watch and has won all five bantamweight fights by knockout since moving down from super bantamweight last February. An eventual blockbuster clash with compatriot Inoue appears to be on the horizon in what would be the biggest fight in Japanese history. The Mexican superstar had no answers for Crawford and kindly surrendered his undisputed super middleweight titles in front of more than 70,000 fans at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Canelo has been a pound-for-pound boxer for a decade, but Crawford completely outboxed him. Canelo is only 35 years old, but he has a lot of mileage on his body with almost 70 fights in a 20-year professional career. Are we witnessing the last years of one of the greatest Mexican boxers of all time? All eyes will be on where Canelo will go from now on.

Classification Methodology

The rankings are based on a descending points system, where a first-place vote awards 10 points, a second-place vote awards nine points, and so on. A tie favors the boxer with the higher ranking, then the one with the most votes in that ranking. Other boxers who received votes: Teofimo Lopez Jr. (7), Gervonta Davis (5), Janibek Alimkhanuly (1), Rafael Espinoza (1).

Alofoke Deportes Experts’ Vote

Here’s how the experts at Alofoke Deportes voted, showing individual preferences and the general consensus in the ranking.Bradley: 1. Crawford, 2. Usyk, 3: Inoue, 4. Bivol, 5. Rodriguez, 6. Nakatani, 7. Stevenson, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Alvarez, 10. BenavidezHale: 1. Crawford, 2. Usyk, 3. Inoue, 4. Bivol, 5. Rodriguez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Benavidez, 8. Stevenson, 9. Alvarez, 10. NakataniAtlas: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Bivol, 5. Benavidez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Stevenson, 8. Rodriguez, 9. Nakatani, 10. EspinozaTessitore: 1. Crawford, 2. Usyk, 3. Inoue, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Rodriguez, 7. Nakatani, 8. Benavidez, 9. Stevenson, 10. DavisParkinson: 1. Crawford, 2. Usyk, 3. Inoue, 4. Bivol, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Rodriguez, 7. Nakatani, 8. Alvarez, 9. Stevenson, 10. BenavidezRaskin: 1. Crawford, 2. Usyk, 3. Inoue, 4. Bivol, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Rodriguez, 7. Stevenson, 8. Benavidez, 9. Alvarez, 10. NakataniOsuna: 1. Crawford, 2. Usyk, 3. Inoue, 4. Bivol, 5. Rodriguez, 6. Stevenson, 7. Nakatani, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Alvarez, 10. BenavidezRodriguez: 1. Crawford, 2. Usyk, 3. Inoue, 4. Bivol, 5. Rodriguez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Nakatani, 8. Benavidez, 9. Stevenson, 10. AlvarezTrejos: 1. Crawford, 2. Usyk, 3. Inoue, 4. Bivol, 5. Rodriguez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Stevenson, 8. Alvarez, 9. Benavidez, 10. NakataniWoodyard: 1. Crawford, 2. Usyk, 3. Inoue, 4. Bivol, 5. Rodriguez, 6. Stevenson, 7. Benavidez, 8. Davis, 9. Beterbiev, 10. NakataniMoynihan: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Bivol, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Stevenson, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Benavidez, 9. Alvarez, 10. DavisPilatti: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Crawford, 4. Bivol, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Rodriguez, 7. Benavidez, 8. Stevenson, 9. Nakatani, 10. AlimkhanulyZirolli: 1. Crawford, 2. Usyk, 3. Inoue, 4. Stevenson, 5. Bivol, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Lopez, 9. Nakatani, 10. BenavidezMascaro: 1. Crawford, 2. Usyk, 3. Inoue, 4. Rodriguez, 5. Bivol, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Nakatani, 8. Benavidez, 9. Davis, 10. LopezFreeman: 1. Crawford, 2. Usyk, 3. Inoue, 4. Rodriguez, 5. Bivol, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Stevenson, 8. Nakatani, 9. Alvarez, 10. LopezLopez: 1. Crawford, 2. Usyk, 3. Inoue, 4. Bivol, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Rodriguez, 7. Stevenson, 8. Benavidez, 9. Nakatani, 10. AlvarezDelgado Averhoff: 1. Crawford, 2. Usyk, 3. Inoue, 4. Bivol, 5. Rodriguez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Benavidez, 8. Stevenson, 9. Lopez, 10. Nakatani

Alofoke Deportes Expert Survey Results

The survey results from the Alofoke Deportes experts, reflecting the general consensus:

First place: Crawford (14 votes), Usyk (3 votes)

Second place: Usyk (14 votes), Crawford (2 votes), Inoue (1 vote)

Third place: Inoue (16 votes), Crawford (1 vote)

Fourth place: Bivol (13 votes), Rodriguez (2 votes), Beterbiev (1 vote), Stevenson (1 vote)

Fifth place: Rodriguez (7 votes), Beterbiev (5 votes), Bivol (4 votes), Benavidez (1 vote)

Sixth place: Beterbiev (8 votes), Rodriguez (5 votes), Stevenson (3 votes), Nakatani (1 vote)Seventh place: Stevenson (6 votes), Nakatani (5 votes), Benavidez (4 votes), Rodriguez (2 votes)Eighth place: Benavidez (6 votes), Stevenson (3 votes), Beterbiev (2 votes), Canelo (2 votes), Rodriguez (1 vote), Nakatani (1 vote), Lopez (1 vote), Davis (1 vote)Ninth place: Alvarez (6 votes), Stevenson (4 votes), Nakatani (4 votes), Beterbiev (1 vote), Benavidez (1 vote), Lopez (1 vote)Tenth place: Nakatani (5 votes), Benavidez (4 votes), Alvarez (2 votes), Lopez (2 votes), Davis (2 votes), Akhmadaliev (1 vote), Espinoza (1 vote)