CHRIS ALGIERI (FORMER JUNIOR WELTERWEIGHT TITLEHOLDER/ COMMENTATOR): CANELO ALVAREZ
“I still have Canelo as pound-for-pound king. He moved up in weight once again and dared to be great against a young talented champion. He fell short to a bigger, younger man, with great skills and a difficult style. Guess what? Size matters. The pound-for-pound listing is based on the fact that Sugar Ray Robinson was so good that in a theoretical realm where weight didn’t matter- he’d whip everyone. And even he moved up to fight Joey Maxim for the light heavyweight title and failed. He moved back down to his natural weight to regain the middleweight championship and wage some of his most iconic fights. Pound-for-pound is a thought experiment – not a reality. Granted, this opens the door for a new king but in my eyes, you can’t “win” pound-for-pound without fighting. If Spence-Crawford happens before Canelo were to fight again, the winner will likely be pound-for-pound No. 1 (and rightfully so). But in the meantime, my number one spot doesn’t change.”