If not, why?
Nope. Too many better & more proven fighters with better resumes. Austin Trout was a step in the right direction but there's a lot of good opponents in that division he's never fought. Unifying the belts means less in boxing today when you don't fight a lot of the guys in your own division, especially if you've been in that division for a while. Sergio Martinez, Lara, Molina, Cotto, Angulo, etc are all still looming in that divison, get a win against one or two of those guys, then yes you've got a spot.
Top 20. Probably around 15ish. He still hasn't cracked the top 10. He needs one more good opponent like Trout to do that. I thought Canelo boxed very well and I am 1 of the few apparently who didn't think it was that close. Being more active doesn't amount to winning a round. Yes Trout was more active but he barely landed anything and he never once hurt Alvarez. Alvarez hurt Trout numerous times including the knockdown. I thought Canelo fought very well.
One could make the argument that he belongs in the top 12 lb4lb.
Of course, being one of the 12 best pro male boxers NOWADAYS is as impressive as being one of the best ice hockey players in Ghana. Just think: most boxing "observers" actually had an imbecile like Nonito Donaire ranked in the top three lb4lb until recently or placed the chinless wonder Miguel Cotto in the top 5 several years ago. Ridiculous.
Canelo did something a lot of boxers don't do. and thats boxing an undefeated boxer in his prime and the same weight class where is SOLID. Canelo boxed a smart fight. He knocked down Trout. Plus trout was bigger than canelo and he had longer reach which helped him with the jabs.
If you dont think canelo is a top ten its because u dont like him. Hes the top dawg at 154 ofcourse hes top 10. Hes unified and had little trouble with what was suppose to be his biggest challenge but definetly can get better.
I said before this fight. Who ever won deserves top 10 status. So, yes Alvarez is now top 10 to me.
A) He is undefeated in over 40 bouts
B) He is the unified champ, how many guys unify today?
C) He deserves credit for fighting the best available opponent... And a real 154 champion.
D) He deserves credit for his improved defense.
No, it was a close fight that could have gone either way depending what you liked more. One of the judges was smoking crack and gave a lop-sided score probably because he was paid off by Golden Boy. Now if Canelo dominated which I don't think he did, I'd say put him on the p4p list. It was a close competitive fight that was decided because of the knockdown. I can guarantee you that if Canelo didn't get that knock-down that Trout would have most likely said something about the scoring being atrocious.
But I think Trout probably thought that the fight was close and the knock-down was the difference, so he didn't bring up the scoring because of that.
He definitely has the defense down, the power, and the intelligence. However, he still needs to improve with his endurance. He got too tired before the 9th round.
He can also take some punches, but that's still need to be proven with other hard punching boxers. \
He's more deserving of that spot than Broner, that's for sure.
En, probably at #11
If so, where would you rank him?
If not, why?
no 10....He clearly won the fight, it may not be a knock out but clearly he won the fight....
