Why Canelo Álvarez is or is not the pound-for-pound king of boxing

Let’s add one more title to Canelo Álvarez’s growing list.

Alvarez picked up another stretch of the super middleweight belt after beating Callum Smith on December 19 to win the WBA, WBC and The Ring titles in the 168-pound division. Álvarez had already proven itself as the main source of income for boxing. Now it can be said that he is the best fighter at both middleweight and super middleweight. But is he the best boxer in the world?

ESPN’s pound-for-pound ranking has Terence “Bud” Crawford at No. 1 and Alvarez at No. 2, but several other outlets have the Mexican four-division champion as the king of boxing. Each fighter took a win in the closing months of 2020 to cement their cause as the best in the sport.

ESPN analysts Cameron Wolfe and Ben Baby are taking opposite angles to defend who really is the best in the world: Crawford or Alvarez.

Wolfe: Write one down here for Crawford. The pound-for-pound charts for me are about testing visibility and performance. No one since Floyd Mayweather Jr. consistently dominated, from lightweight to junior welterweight to welterweight, just like Crawford. He was the linear lightweight champion, the undisputed junior lightweight champion, and is now the bogeyman of the welterweight division.

Alvarez is one of the best fighters of this generation, but in his three biggest fights (Mayweather, Gennadiy Golovkin twice) he has a loss, a draw (what many consider a loss) and a win. What sets Crawford apart is that no one nearly beat him. His speed, his defense, his intelligence, his adaptability, his strength; regularly makes his opponents look like no one.

It’s been almost five years since someone put Crawford on the map. Alvarez is boxing’s greatest money man, but Crawford is boxing’s king. But Ben, I know you’re eager to get your point across here. Why am I wrong?

Baby: It’s not a big discussion for me. If you look at Álvarez’s history over the past 10 years, Canelo’s opposition is truly astounding. As of 2011, when Alvarez won his first major welterweight title, he fought some of the biggest names in the sport and knocked them out with relative ease. The lone exception is Mayweather, who fought Canelo smartly early in his career and was a middleweight a few pounds lighter than Alvarez’s usual range at the time.

Shane Mosley. Miguel Cotto. Erislandy Lara. Golovkin. That’s just one example of the names on Canelo’s resume.

Plus, Canelo has become more impressive as he’s moved throughout his career. It can range from masterful defense and counterattack to intimidating offense, even against someone fighting trouble like Callum Smith.

To me, that’s the biggest factor separating Alvarez and Crawford. Whether it’s Crawford’s fault or not, he just hasn’t managed to get hold of opponents of the same caliber.

Wolfe: Look, I can’t argue with you that Alvarez has a better opponent’s resume than Crawford, but I’m not going to criticize Crawford for the misery of boxing.

Crawford is the most feared fighter and arguably the scariest in boxing. Why is the best fighter in the division punished because the rest of the weight will not fight him, arguing “across the street” as an excuse? How do we know these so-called PBC elite boxers wouldn’t suffer the same fate in the ring as everyone else who fights Bud?

I’d rather watch what Bud did than emphasize who he’s not confronted with. I give Canelo credit for his evolution as a boxer, but I still remember how Mayweather made him look normal for 12 rounds. And you could argue that he hasn’t won any of his two matches with Golovkin. I also have problems with Canelo because it failed several drug tests for “contaminated meat”. There are too many questions about Canelo to elevate him above Crawford, who is arguably the cleanest, meanest man in boxing.

Baby: Failed drug tests should not be overlooked. That will always be part of Canelo’s legacy, no matter what he thinks about it. But I think Alvarez should get the credit for having no issues other than the situation after Golovkin’s first fight. And as I said, the combination of his talents in the ring and the rivals he has beaten is unmatched in the sport.

That said, I know it’s not enough for you. So since Alvarez isn’t your number one pound-for-pound fighter, who has to beat Canelo to take him to the top of the rankings?

Wolfe: That is a good question. The gap between Crawford and Alvarez, between No. 1 and No. 2, is narrower to me than between Alvarez and Naoya Inoue at No. 2 and No. 3. Assuming Crawford has no other prominent opponent, a convincing win of Alvarez on Golovkin or WBC Middleweight Champion Jermall Charlo would be enough to take him to No. 1.

What battles in Crawford would be enough to get you in the first place?

Baby: I know boxing has his policy, but if Crawford “crosses the street” and is willing to take on some opponents under the Premier Boxing Champions umbrella, he will really step up his actions. After the fight between Errol Spence and Danny Garcia, Shawn Porter openly called out to Crawford.

Crawford has the potential to become the pound-for-pound king of boxing. And while those outside forces exist in boxing, Crawford has to do everything he can to make sure he wants to fight the best, not just the most profitable. Then it would get to the point where Canelo is where he can pick his opponent and win more than anyone else to do so.

Álvarez is 30 years old. Crawford is 33 years old and still hums. And if they continue their current trajectory, the debate over the two will continue for years to come.