Canelo Alvarez’s unanimous decision victory over Edgar Berlanga — his eighth defense of at least one super middleweight title — solidified his spot atop the 168-pound division but didn’t earn him many extra votes to move up in ESPN’s pound-for-pound rankings. It was Alvarez’s sixth fight in Las Vegas on Mexican Independence Day weekend, and his fourth at T-Mobile Arena.
Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs), of Guadalajara, Mexico, dominated Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs), and scored a knockdown in the third round with a thunderous left hook to the head. But Alvarez failed to score his first KO victory since November 2021 — when he stopped Caleb Plant in the 11th round — against a heavy underdog in Berlanga.
“I did good. Now what are they gonna say?” Alvarez said after the fight. “They said I don’t fight young fighters. They always talk, but I’m the best fighter in the world.
“My experience and my talent was the difference. It’s about hard work and intelligence. It’s everything together. If you have talent, you need discipline as well.”
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Friday, 5:45 p.m. ET on ESPN+: Jaime Munguia vs. Erik Bazinyan undercard
Friday, 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN+: Jaime Munguia vs. Erik Bazinyan, 12 rounds, super middleweights
| Fighter | Betting odds |
|---|---|
| Jaime Munguia | -1200 |
| Erik Bazinyan | +650 |
| All odds by ESPN BET
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Regardless of the victory, Alvarez didn’t move up in the rankings and stayed at No. 5. Most voters kept Alvarez in the same spots, including ESPN boxing analyst and Hall of Famer Timothy Bradley Jr.
“The fighters preceding Canelo on the list have consistently knocked out their opponents, particularly those seen as lower-level threats and some elite opposition,” Bradley said of his decision to not move Alvarez up on his list. “Although Canelo is great, the sizzle is missing in his performances despite his popularity and being labeled as the face of boxing.”
ESPN boxing insider Mike Coppinger moved Alvarez down two spots on his list.
Another fighter in the top 10 was in action since our last rankings. Naoya Inoue defended his undisputed junior featherweight championship with a seventh-round TKO victory over TJ Doheny at Ariake Arena in Tokyo on Sept. 3.
This was the second defense of the WBC, WBO, IBF and WBA titles for Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs), a four-division champion — and undisputed at 118 and 112 pounds. With the win, Inoue earned enough votes to force a tie for the No. 2 spot with Terence Crawford.
Our panel of Coppinger, Bradley, Joe Tessitore, Teddy Atlas, Nick Parkinson, Eric Raskin, Michelle Joy Phelps, Claudia Trejos, Bernardo Osuna, Crystina Poncher, Eric Woodyard, Bernardo Pilatti, Charles Moynihan, Salvador Rodriguez, Jim Zirolli, Michael Mascaro, Aladdin Freeman, Victor Lopez and Damian Delgado Averhoff shares its votes.
More ESPN rankings: Divisional rankings and women’s pound-for-pound rankings.
Note: Results are through Sept. 17.
1. OLEKSANDR USYK
Previous ranking: No. 1
RECORD: 22-0, 14 KOs
DIVISION: Heavyweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (SD12) Tyson Fury, May 18
NEXT FIGHT: Dec. 21 vs. Tyson Fury
T-2. TERENCE CRAWFORD
Previous ranking: No. 2
RECORD: 40-0, 31 KOs
DIVISION: Welterweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Israil Madrimov, Aug. 3
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
T-2. NAOYA INOUE
Previous ranking: No. 3
RECORD: 28-0, 25 KOs
DIVISION: Junior featherweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO7) Luis TJ Doheny, Sept. 3
NEXT FIGHT: Dec. 24 vs. Sam Goodman
4. DMITRY BIVOL
Previous ranking: No. 4
RECORD: 23-1, 12 KOs
DIVISION: Light heavyweight
LAST FIGHT: L (MD12) Artur Beterbiev, Oct. 12
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
5. CANELO ALVAREZ
Previous ranking: No. 5
RECORD: 62-2-2, 39 KOs
DIVISION: Super middleweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Edgar Berlanga, Sept. 14
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
6. ARTUR BETERBIEV
Previous ranking: No. 6
RECORD: 21-0, 20 KOs
DIVISION: Light heavyweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (MD12) Dmitry Bivol, Oct. 12
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
7. JESSE “BAM” RODRIGUEZ
Previous ranking: No. 7
RECORD: 20-0, 13 KOs
DIVISION: Junior bantamweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (KO7) Juan Francisco Estrada, June 29
NEXT FIGHT: Nov. 9 vs. Pedro Guevara
8. GERVONTA DAVIS
Previous ranking: No. 8
RECORD: 30-0, 28 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (KO8) Frank Martin, June 15
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
9. SHAKUR STEVENSON
Previous ranking: No. 9
RECORD: 22-0, 10 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Artem Harutyunyan, July 6
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
10. TEOFIMO LOPEZ
Previous ranking: No. 10
RECORD: 21-1, 13 KOs
DIVISION: Junior welterweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Steve Claggett, June 29
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
The formula
The rankings are based on a descending points system, with a first-place vote awarding 10 points, a second-place vote awarding nine points and so on. A tie goes to the fighter with the highest ranking, then the one with the most votes at that ranking.
Others receiving votes: Junto Nakatani (12), Tyson Fury (9), Vasiliy Lomachenko (7), David Benavidez (5), Devin Haney (1).
How our writers voted
Bradley: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3: Inoue, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Rodriguez, 6. Davis, 7. Bivol, 8. Alvarez, 9. Lopez, 10. Stevenson
Coppinger: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Crawford, 4. Bivol, 5. Rodriguez, 6. Alvarez, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Davis, 9. Nakatani, 10. Haney
Atlas: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Bivol, 5. Davis, 6. Lomachenko, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Alvarez, 9. Fury, 10. Rodriguez
Tessitore: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Bivol, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Rodriguez, 7. Alvarez, 8. Nakatani, 9. Stevenson, 10. Davis
Parkinson: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Crawford, 4. Alvarez, 5. Bivol, 6. Rodriguez, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Nakatani, 9. Lomachenko, 10. Davis
Raskin: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Crawford, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Rodriguez, 7. Davis, 8. Stevenson, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Benavidez
Poncher: 1. Crawford, 2. Usyk, 3. Inoue, 4. Alvarez, 5. Bivol, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Davis, 9. Stevenson, 10. Lopez
Osuna: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Lopez, 9. Stevenson, 10. Davis
Phelps: 1. Usyk, 2. Alvarez, 3. Inoue, 4. Crawford, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Bivol, 7. Fury, 8. Lopez, 9. Davis, 10. Stevenson
Rodriguez: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Crawford, 4. Alvarez, 5. Bivol, 6. Davis, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Stevenson, 10. Nakatani
Trejos: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Davis, 9. Stevenson, 10. Lopez
Woodyard: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Davis, 6. Lopez, 7. Stevenson, 8. Bivol, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Fury
Moynihan: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Bivol, 7. Davis, 8. Stevenson, 9. Benavidez, 10. Nakatani
Pilatti: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Crawford, 4. Bivol, 5. Davis, 6. Rodriguez, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Nakatani, 9. Benavidez, 10. Fury
Zirolli: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Stevenson, 5. Alvarez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Bivol, 8. Rodriguez, 9. Lopez, 10. Nakatani
Mascaro: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Rodriguez, 5. Bivol, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Alvarez, 8. Lopez, 9. Davis, 10. Stevenson
Freeman: 1.Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Usyk, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Alvarez, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Davis, 9. Nakatani, 10. Stevenson
Lopez: 1. Crawford, 2. Usyk, 3. Inoue, 4. Alvarez, 5. Bivol, 6. Rodriguez, 7. Davis, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Stevenson, 10. Lopez
Delgado Averhof: 1. Inoue, 2. Usyk, 3. Crawford, 4. Alvarez, 5. Bivol, 6. Rodriguez, 7. Davis, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Stevenson, 10. Lopez
ESPN experts’ poll
First place: Usyk (11), Crawford (4), Inoue (4)
Second place: Crawford (8), Inoue (7), Usyk (3), Alvarez (1)
Third place: Inoue (8), Crawford (6), Usyk (5)
Fourth place: Bivol (7), Alvarez (7), Beterbiev (2), Crawford (1), Rodriguez (1), Stevenson (1)
Fifth place: Bivol (7), Alvarez (4), Beterbiev (3), Davis (3), Rodriguez (2)
Sixth place: Rodriguez (6), Beterbiev (5), Bivol (2), Alvarez (2), Davis (2), Lopez (1), Lomachenko (1)
Seventh place: Rodriguez (5), Beterbiev (4), Davis (4), Bivol (2), Alvarez (2), Stevenson (1), Fury (1)
Eighth place: Davis (4), Beterbiev (3), Lopez (3), Nakatani (3), Alvarez (2), Stevenson (2), Bivol (1), Rodriguez (1)
Ninth place: Stevenson (7), Beterbiev (2), Davis (2), Lopez (2), Nakatani (2), Benavidez (2), Fury (1), Lomachenko (1)
10th place: Stevenson (4), Davis (3), Lopez (3), Nakatani (3), Fury (3), Rodriguez (1), Benavidez (1), Haney (1)
Source: espn.com