Last Saturday’s Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol fight has already started affecting the pound-for-pound rankings, as is the case after two pound-for-pound fighters collide. In the latest update, Ring Magazine has promoted the Russian duo on their list, which saw them leaving super middleweight king Canelo Alvarez behind.

Before Beterbiev and Bivol went to an absolute war in Riyadh this past Saturday, where the older Russian secured the win via a controversial majority decision, Canelo, despite his choice of opponents lately, was sitting pretty at the fourth spot. However, guess where he is now after a hefty demotion by the Bible of boxing? 

Canelo Alvarez slips: Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol take over

As always, after the update was made, talkSport editor Michael Benson was the first at the scene of Canelo’s demotion. He quickly took his new findings to X, writing, “Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol have both now leapfrogged Canelo Alvarez in the Ring Magazine pound-for-pound top ten.” However, that doesn’t answer the question, where Canelo is now?

Without further ado, here’s the new list: The first spot is still held by former undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, then Japan’s pride and joy— undisputed super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue, and the third spot belongs to Terence Crawford, of course. Now, the fourth spot has been given to another undisputed champion, Artur Beterbiev. 

Despite the loss, Bivol is right behind his last opponent at the fifth spot while the usual names are listed under him: Canelo Alvarez, Jesse Rodriguez, Gervonta Davis, Junto Nakatani, and of course, Devin Haney—in that order. Interestingly, while fans understood why Beterbiev got promoted, they were left perplexed by Bivol’s climb. However, somehow Oscar De La Hoya got blamed for it.

How could Oscar De La Hoya be involved in Bivol’s ascension?

See, rankings are always met with some contention because everyone has their own preferences and biases. Like this user, who felt ‘Bam’ Rodriguez also should have been ranked higher than Canelo. “Bam should be over Canelo. Canelo [has] been cherry-picking fights since the Bivol L,” the user wrote. However, what people forget is Canelo was an undisputed champion. Plus he has more fights and more wins than most other champions on the list. Not to mention, he has won titles in four divisions compared to ‘Bam’s’ two.

The next user could not come to terms with Bivol being above Canelo, so the user blamed Oscar De La Hoya for manipulating the rankings. “🤣 Oscar [De La] Hoya is behind this never have I seen a fighter go up in rankings after losing[.] Oscar just hates Canelo,” the user commented. For those wondering, Oscar is part owner of Ring Magazine, and his beef with Canelo is quite well-known. 

Meanwhile, this user had quite a bold idea. “Good…Canelo shouldn’t even be on the list[,] to be honest..🤷🏽‍♂️,” commented the user. However, in that case, Crawford, No. 3 on the list, wanting to fight Canelo so badly doesn’t exactly look that good. 

Another user made Devin Haney an unwitting victim of criticism. “How is Haney still on this list,” the user asked. Haney’s image has taken a massive hit since his loss to Ryan Garcia, even though the decision was overturned. Plus, Haney suing Garcia hasn’t helped his standing. 

While everyone else had some sort of issue with the list, this user seemed perfectly content with it. “Genuinely not a terrible list,” the user commented. If you think about it, achievements-wise, the names on the list do make a lot of sense. 

Like every other time, Ring Magazine’s pound-for-pound ranking was met with disapproval from fans. Unfortunately for Oscar De La Hoya, one fan decided to draw up a conspiracy behind Canelo’s sharp fall. Do you think Oscar could have influenced the ranking?