Canelo Alvarez, once the undisputed monarch of the pound-for-pound rankings, has offered an unfiltered assessment of boxing’s current elite, revealing his personal selection of the sport’s top five active fighters while notably omitting his own name from the discussion. The Mexican icon, who captured world titles across four weight divisions and reigned as the undisputed king of the super-middleweight ranks, is currently charting a path back toward world championship status. Ahead of his upcoming return to the ring, where he will seek to reclaim glory against Christian Mbilli in Saudi Arabia, Alvarez spoke candidly about the peers he believes represent the absolute pinnacle of prize fighting today.
During an interview with DAZN Boxing, the veteran campaigner shared his perspective on who commands the highest standing across the sport. In an era where pound-for-pound debates generate endless dispute among pundits and supporters, Alvarez presented a definitive list that reflected both widely held consensus and a measure of personal respect. When asked to identify the five best active fighters in the world, Alvarez delivered a succinct appraisal of the landscape, stating: “My top five pound-for-pound fighters are [Oleksandr] Usyk, [Naoya] Inoue, Bivol, Shakur [Stevenson] and Gervonta [Davis].”
The decision to exclude himself from the quintet highlights a grounded, pragmatic self-awareness from a competitor who was once universally viewed as boxing’s foremost attraction and premier talent. For several years, Alvarez held an iron grip on the number one spot in almost every respected pound-for-pound ranking. Between 2019 and 2022, his stature in the sport was virtually unrivaled. Following his 2013 defeat at the hands of Floyd Mayweather Jr., Alvarez embarked on an extraordinary, years-long undefeated streak, gathering championship belts and dismantling elite opposition as he steadily advanced through the weight classes.
That remarkable ascension reached a memorable zenith in November 2019. In a daring move up to the light-heavyweight division, Alvarez took on WBO light-heavyweight world champion Sergey Kovalev. In a bout that showcased his timing and concussive power, Alvarez stopped the seasoned Russian veteran to capture a world championship in his fourth distinct weight class. The triumph solidified his reputation as an athlete willing to test his limits against significantly larger champions, earning him universal acclaim across the boxing world.
Rather than remaining at light-heavyweight, Alvarez quickly recalibrated his ambitions toward unifying the super-middleweight division. Embarking on one of the most prolific and aggressive championship campaigns in modern boxing history, he swept through the 168-pound class with ruthless efficiency. Over a span of just eleven months, Alvarez systematically stripped the division’s titleholders of their hardware, collecting all four major sanctioning body belts to become the first undisputed super-middleweight champion in boxing history. That breathless run represented the peak of his dominance, affirming his place at the absolute summit of the global pound-for-pound hierarchy.
However, the nature of elite combat sports ensures that dominance is rarely permanent. In the years following that historic undisputed coronation, Alvarez experienced rare and sobering setbacks. A secondary excursion into the light-heavyweight division saw him outboxed by the technically precise Dmitry Bivol, who handed the Mexican star his first defeat in nearly a decade. Further down the line, Alvarez encountered another formidable test, falling to multi-division pound-for-pound maestro Terence Crawford. Those high-profile defeats fundamentally altered the trajectory of his career, stripping the 36-year-old champion of the titles he had meticulously gathered and leaving him without a world championship belt around his waist.
Now, facing the reality of being beltless for the first time in many years, Alvarez is not seeking a quiet exit from the spotlight. Instead, he has engineered another dangerous world title opportunity. At the end of the month, Alvarez will travel to Saudi Arabia in an effort to dethrone Christian Mbilli, an aggressive and surging force at super-middleweight. The matchup serves as a critical juncture for the Mexican legend, offering him a direct avenue to prove that he remains capable of operating at world-championship caliber and restoring his credentials among the sport’s finest operators.
Against that backdrop of personal rebuilding, Alvarez’s choice of the five best fighters in the world carries extra weight. At the summit of his ranking sit Oleksandr Usyk and Naoya Inoue, selections that mirror the widespread consensus shared by experts and fans alike. Both men have forged legacies defined by supreme technical mastery and historic divisional unifications. Usyk’s relentless engine, tactical brilliance, and ability to conquer both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions have established him as an all-time great. Similarly, Japan’s Inoue has mesmerized audiences worldwide with a combination of terrifying knockout power, defensive sharpness, and speed across multiple lighter weight classes. For Alvarez, endorsing Usyk and Inoue as the sport’s leading lights is an acknowledgment of pure, unblemished excellence.
The inclusion of Dmitry Bivol on the list is equally telling. Rather than allowing pride to overshadow objective evaluation, Alvarez directly acknowledged the man who handed him a convincing defeat inside the squared circle. Bivol has continued to validate his standing as a master technician, currently holding three of the four major world championship belts at light-heavyweight. The Russian champion remains one of boxing’s most formidable operators, characterized by disciplined footwork, an exceptional lead hand, and an unflappable ring presence. Bivol is currently preparing to put those three titles on the line in December, when he makes his next championship defense against Britain’s Callum Smith—a clash that will further define the hierarchy of the 175-pound division.
Further down his list, Alvarez selected Shakur Stevenson, highlighting the premium he places on refined boxing fundamentals and defensive wizardry. Stevenson has long been recognized as one of the most gifted pure boxers of his generation, frustrating opponents with his elusive movement, razor-sharp counterpunching, and exceptional spatial awareness. Having conquered multiple divisions early in his professional tenure, Stevenson now finds himself standing on the precipice of a monumental career moment. The southpaw looks poised for a marquee showdown against fellow elite talent Devin Haney later this year, an anticipated encounter that promises to deliver definitive answers regarding supremacy in their weight class.
The most debated name on Alvarez’s list, however, is arguably Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis. While Davis possesses generational punching power, explosive athleticism, and exceptional ring IQ that make him one of the sport’s premier box-office attractions, his recent activity has been complicated by controversy and inactivity. Davis has been sidelined since March 2025, when he engaged in a fiercely contested battle against Lamont Roach. That encounter concluded in a dramatic and disputed majority draw, marred by contention over a pivotal knockdown call that ignited intense debate among ringside observers and the broader boxing community. Despite that stalemate and his subsequent hiatus from competitive action, Alvarez still regards Davis as one of the five most gifted and dangerous fighters active in the sport today.
By deliberately leaving himself off the list, Alvarez demonstrated a clear respect for the current dynamics of the sport, conceding that pound-for-pound standing is dictated by present momentum and recent results rather than historical prestige. Having experienced the exhilarating heights of undisputed dominance as well as the bitterness of defeat, Alvarez understands better than most what is required to reach the mountaintop. As his high-stakes world title challenge against Christian Mbilli in Saudi Arabia approaches, Alvarez’s honest evaluation of his peers serves as both a respectful appraisal of boxing’s elite and an implicit acknowledgment of the formidable mountain he must climb if he wishes to re-enter their ranks.
