Canelo Alvarez proved a unanimous choice in Boxing Social’s latest pound-for-pound rankings. The Mexican mega-star was the number one pick for all nine of our panel, toppling Naoya Inoue who took advantage of Canelo’s spell of inactivity in 2020 to nick the top spot by a single point in the inaugural ratings last November.
All nine of Boxing’s Social’s voters had Canelo in top spot with eight panellists believing Japanese ‘Monster’ Inoue to be the second-best overall fighter in the sport of boxing.
WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford polled third, just ahead of new, undisputed 140lbs king Josh Taylor, who rises six places after his victory over Jose Ramirez last month.
Undisputed lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez remains in fifth spot whilst Oleksandr Usyk, Juan Francisco Estrada, Errol Spence, Vasiliy Lomachenko and Jermell Charlo round off the Top 10. Roman Gonzalez and Kosei Tanaka drop out of the rankings following their recent defeats, replaced by unified champions Spence (147lbs) and Charlo (154lbs).
Boxing Social Pound-for-pound Top 10 (June 2021):
1. Canelo Alvarez (168lbs) 90 points
2. Naoya Inoue (118lbs) 76 points
3. Terence Crawford (147lbs) 60 points
4. Josh Taylor (140lbs) 56 points
5. Teofimo Lopez (135lbs) 51 points
6. Oleksandr Usyk (Over 200lbs) 44 points
7. Errol Spence (147lbs) 41 points
8. Juan Francisco Estrada (115lbs) 39 points
9. Vasiliy Lomachenko (135lbs) 11 points
10. Jermell Charlo (154lbs) 7 points
Others receiving votes: Gervonta Davis (6 points), Jermall Charlo (5), Kazuto Ioka (4), Tyson Fury (4), Oscar Valdez (2), Manny Pacquiao (1), Anthony Joshua (1).
The voting panel for the Boxing Social Pound-for-pound rankings are: Graham Houston, Rob Tebbutt, Mark Butcher, Luke G. Williams, Craig Scott, John Angus MacDonald, Shaun Brown, Garry White, Matt Bevan.
Each panellist ranked their Top 10 in order, with the boxer placed first receiving ten points, second nine points, third eight points and so on. Boxers were then ranked by the overall number of points accrued. If scores are equal then the boxer with the highest individual rating from a judge is ranked higher. If boxers are still equal they are then ranked equal. If there is a tie for first place then the boxer with the most first-place votes is given preference. If boxers are still equal they are then ranked equal.
Main image: Michelle Farsi/Matchroom Boxing USA.