Bad Left Hook Boxing Rankings (Nov. 5, 2019): Canelo Alvarez now ranked in three divisions at once

Rankings will be posted each Tuesday at Noon ET.

This week’s ranked fights:

• Heavyweight: (7) Kubrat Pulev vs Rydell Booker, Nov. 9
• Super Middleweight: (4) Billy Joe Saunders vs Marcelo Esteban Coceres, Nov. 9
• Lightweight: (8) Devin Haney vs Alfredo Santiago, Nov. 9
• Super Featherweight: (5) Jamel Herring vs Lamont Roach Jr, Nov. 9
• Bantamweight: (1) Naoya Inoue vs (3) Nonito Donaire, Nov. 7
• Bantamweight: (5) Nordine Oubaali vs (8) Takuma Inoue, Nov. 7

Upcoming Fights: (7) Kubrat Pulev vs Rydell Booker, Nov. 9 ... (2) Deontay Wilder vs (6) Luis Ortiz, Nov. 23 ... (3) Andy Ruiz Jr vs (4) Anthony Joshua, Dec. 7 ... (1) Tyson Fury vs (2) Deontay Wilder, Feb. 22

Notes: Denis Lebedev has decided not to retire after all, and will be back in action on Dec. 21 against Thabiso Mchunu, a solid fighter. So Lebedev is back at No. 6 here, and instead of dropping Lawrence Okolie from the No. 10 spot, I decided to drop veteran Krzysztof Wlodarczyk from the No. 9 spot to out of the rankings. I thought about it, weighed it out, and I think Okolie is currently more deserving — British, Commonwealth, European titles for him, while Wlodarczyk is a former world titleholder but also 38 years old and on the slide. If a fight between them were made, I’d pick Okolie, ugly as it might be to get there.

Upcoming Fights: (8) Arsen Goulamirian vs Kane Watts, Nov. 15 ... (6) Denis Lebedev vs Thabiso Mchunu, Dec. 21 ... (1) Mairis Briedis vs (2) Yuniel Dorticos, TBA

Notes: Well, I promised that if Canelo beat Kovalev, I’d go ahead and just rank the Mexican star in three divisions at once, having previously only listed him as a middleweight. I mean, why not? These rankings aren’t forcing anyone to fight anyone, and this is a fun situation. At 175, I’ve got him No. 3 — he beat the guy I had No. 3 last week, and I’d pick him to beat anyone below him here, including Gvozdyk. I’d go about 50/50 with a Bivol matchup. I’d pick Beterbiev to overpower him, and I don’t think that’s controversial or anything. I think Canelo can legit fight at 175, and against good opponents, but he’s far from untouchable.

Upcoming Fights: (3) Sergey Kovalev vs Canelo Alvarez, Nov. 2 ... (6) Jean Pascal vs (8) Badou Jack, Dec. 28 ... (1) Artur Beterbiev vs Meng Fanlong, TBA

Notes: I’ve also got Canelo No. 3 at 168 pounds. I know his only win in this division is over Rocky Fielding (well, and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, technically), but would you really pick Caleb Plant over him? Billy Joe Saunders? Any of the rest of these guys? I chose to drop Caleb Truax, eighth last week, to make the room for Canelo, because Truax is on the shelf and hasn’t fought a full fight since Aug. 2018.

Upcoming Fights: (4) Billy Joe Saunders vs Marcelo Esteban Coceres, Nov. 9 ... (10) Rocky Fielding vs Abdallah Paziwapazi, Nov. 15 ... (1) Callum Smith vs (9) John Ryder, Nov. 23 ... (5) Chris Eubank Jr vs Matt Korobov [middleweight], Dec. 7

Upcoming Fights: (6) Jermall Charlo vs Dennis Hogan, Dec. 7 ... (9) Matt Korobov vs Chris Eubank Jr, Dec. 7 ... (3) Daniel Jacobs vs TBA [super middleweight], Dec. 20 ... (7) Ryota Murata vs Steven Butler, Dec. 23

Notes: Brian Castano got a pretty dominant win on Saturday night, outclassing Wale Omotoso until Omotoso was stopped after five rounds with an injured shoulder. It’s really just a stay-busy, but Castano went out there and fought like a real contender, too.

Upcoming Fights: (8) Dennis Hogan vs Jermall Charlo [middleweight], Dec. 7 ... (5) Tony Harrison vs (6) Jermell Charlo, Dec. 21 ... (1) Julian Williams vs Jeison Rosario, Jan. 18

Upcoming Fights: (2) Terence Crawford vs Egidijus Kavaliauskas, Dec. 14 ... (1) Errol Spence Jr vs (6) Danny Garcia, TBA

Upcoming Fights: (8) Eduard Troyanovsky vs Josef Zahradnik, Nov. 14 ... (4) Maurice Hooker vs TBA [welterweight], Dec. 20 ... (3) Jose Ramirez vs (6) Viktor Postol, TBA

Notes: With a flashy win over Jesus Cuellar on Saturday, I’ve bumped Javier Fortuna up to No. 4, switching spots with Rances Barthelemy. The 3-5 guys here, maybe even 2-5, are good fighters, but also really feel like they’re holding places for the division’s rising stars — Teofimo Lopez, Devin Haney, maybe Ryan Garcia, who was real impressive on Saturday night, too. Commey-Lopez is a big fight for the division on Dec. 14, obviously.

Upcoming Fights: (7) Devin Haney vs Alfredo Santiago, Nov. 9 ... (2) Richard Commey vs (6) Teofimo Lopez, Dec. 14

Notes: Berchelt absolutely destroyed Jason Sosa on Saturday night on a Top Rank card that flew under the radar, but thanks to pacing of the DAZN card was easy to catch during downtime if you were crafty enough and had enough screens. Sosa is a game, tough dude, but Berchelt just blew him away. He’s the clear top guy at 130, particularly with Tank Davis moving up to 135.

Upcoming Fights: (5) Jamel Herring vs Lamont Roach Jr, Nov. 9 ... (4) Andrew Cancio vs Rene Alvarado, Nov. 23 ... (2) Gervonta Davis vs Yuriorkis Gamboa [lightweight], Dec. 28

Upcoming Fights: (1) Leo Santa Cruz vs Miguel Flores [super featherweight], Nov. 23 ... (8) Xu Can vs Manny Robles III, Nov. 23 ... (4) Oscar Valdez vs Andres Gutierrez [super featherweight], Nov. 30 ... (5) Carl Frampton vs Tyler McCreary, Nov. 30 ... (9) Kid Galahad vs Claudio Marrero, TBA

Upcoming Fights: (9) Brandon Figueroa vs Julio Ceja, Nov. 23

Upcoming Fights: (1) Naoya Inoue vs (3) Nonito Donaire, Nov. 7 ... (5) Nordine Oubaali vs (8) Takuma Inoue, Nov. 7 ... (7) Jason Moloney vs Dixon Flores, Nov. 15 ... (2) Luis Nery vs (6) Emmanuel Rodriguez, Nov. 23 ... (5) Zolani Tete vs John Riel Casimero, Nov. 30

Upcoming Fights: (8) Andrew Moloney vs Elton Dharry, Nov. 15 ... (10) Alejandro Santiago vs TBA [bantamweight], Nov. 22 ... (4) Kazuto Ioka vs Jeyvier Cintron, Dec. 31

Upcoming Fights: (4) Julio Cesar Martinez vs (7) Cristofer Rosales, Dec. 20 ... (2) Moruti Mthalane vs Akira Yaegashi, Dec. 23

Upcoming Fights: (1) Ken Shiro vs (5) Felix Alvarado, Dec. 23

Upcoming Fights: TBA