For the first time since the spring of 2013, shortly after Alvarez beat Austin Trout, the Mexican superstar and four-division champion was not listed in The Ring’s top 10 for performance-related reasons.
In 2018, Alvarez was dropped from the top 10 P4P rankings and middleweight rankings and stripped of The Ring middleweight title after testing positive for the banned substance Clenbuterol ahead of his rematch against
Gennadiy Golovkin. Alvarez re-entered the mix, however, after eking out a majority decision against Golovkin that same year.
Alvarez was installed as The Ring's P4P king in November 2019 after beating former light heavyweight kingpin Sergey Kovalev and carried the top spot until losing to
Dmitry Bivol in May 2022.
The combination of
Alvarez dropping a unanimous decision and his undisputed super middleweight title against Terence Crawford in September following a series of ho-hum wins — and the emergence of younger champions
David Benavidez,
Shakur Stevenson and
Devin Haney — has contributed to his ouster from the prestigious list.
Alvarez (63-3-2, 39 KOs) also hasn’t scored a knockout win since he crushed Caleb Plant in 2021, arguably the last time he was at the peak of his powers. A 6-2 record has followed, with workmanlike decisions coming against an aged Golovkin as well as John Ryder, Jermell Charlo, Jaime Munguia, Edgar Berlanga and William Scull.
At 35, Alvarez must figure out how to maneuver his career moving forward in a meaningful way that preserves and adds to his legacy.
Alvarez has two more fights left in the four-fight deal he signed with Riyadh Season earlier this year. Reports emerged from Mexico last week that Alvarez is interested in pursuing a rematch against Crawford. Many believe the sequel would be no different than the first installment, and that he should consider other options.
If the Crawford fight doesn’t make sense, Alvarez should be inclined to face the likes of
super middleweight contenders Hamzah Sheeraz and Christian Mbilli, pursue a rematch against Bivol, The Ring's light heavyweight champion, or finally cave into public pressure and make a fight happen against Benavidez at a weight they’re both comfortable with.
Without beating Crawford, Bivol or Benavidez, it’s hard to imagine a path where Alvarez can be considered a P4P-ranked fighter ever again in his Hall of Fame-bound career.
Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan