Boxing Pound-for-Pound Rankings: Canelo Alvarez continues backward slide; Naoya Inoue maintains with wild win

Alvarez may be undisputed at super middleweight again, but the performance against William Scull was less than inspiring

At 34, Canelo Alvarez remains one of the pound-for-pound best fighters in boxing after reacquiring undisputed champion status last weekend at 168 pounds. But to say the Mexican superstar is trending in the right direction of late, as it pertains to the court of public opinion, would be an entirely different conversation. 

Alvarez (63-2-2, 39 KOs) has already been under a great deal of fire for his outright refusal to face two-time champion and unbeaten slugger David Benavidez after a series of excuses from Alvarez (and outright enabling from the sport's sanctioning bodies) led to Benavidez moving up in weight after refusing to sit around. It was Alvarez's return on May 3, however, that brought an even more immense amount of scrutiny in his direction.

After swerving YouTube influencer Jake Paul in the 11th hour to sign a four-fight deal with powerful adviser Turki Alalshikh earlier this year, Alvarez made his fighting debut on Saudi Arabia on May 3 in a Cinco de Mayo matchup against IBF titleholder William Scull that only came to be because Alvarez had refused to face the obscure mandatory challenger in late 2024 and was stripped of one of his four 168-pound world titles.