1Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez
Far and away the most decorated and popular Mexican currently active, Álvarez has won world titles at super-welterweight, middleweight, super-middleweight and light-heavyweight. He has beaten a who’s who of champions during that run and has a reputation blackened only by a failed performance-enhancing drug (PED) test in 2018.
2 Francisco Estrada
King of the super-flyweights, Estrada recently won his trilogy fight with the equally great Román González to leave him 2-1 up in that particular series. In addition, the WBC super-flyweight champion has beaten Carlos Cuadras and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai.
3 Mauricio Lara
Somewhat of an unknown quantity before he arrived in Leeds in 2021, now Mauricio Lara is a name everybody in boxing knows and some even fear. He has stoppage wins over Josh Warrington, whom he beat that night at Wembley Arena behind closed doors, and also Leigh Wood, whom he stopped in seven rounds last time out.
4 Emanuel Navarrete
Rough and rugged, and always unpredictable, Navarrete has won 37 of 38 pro fights and is the current WBO super-featherweight champion, having previously won the WBO belt at both featherweight and super-bantamweight.
5 Luis Nery
A controversial figure due to a failed PED test in 2017, Nery also happens to be a dangerous fighter, winning 34 of 35 pro fights and claiming the WBC title as both a bantamweight and super-bantamweight.
6 Rey Vargas
Another Mexican with a long winning streak, Vargas’ 36-fight unbeaten run ended only in February when he was outpointed by O’Shaquie Foster and lost his WBC featherweight belt in the process. Before that, he had reigned as super-bantamweight champion from 2017 to 2019.
7 Gilberto Ramírez
Though he may have come up short against Dmitry Bivol last November, that should not detract from what Ramírez achieved as a super-middleweight, the division in which he won a WBO belt and defended it five times. While short of the elite level, he is nevertheless a talented southpaw operator.
8 Isaac Cruz
Known as “Pitbull”, Cruz lost a lightweight title challenge against Gervonta Davis in 2021, yet remains the only opponent to have taken “Tank” the 12-round distance. Aside from that, Cruz has stopped Yuriorkis Gamboa in five rounds, Diego Magdaleno in one, and Eduardo Ramirez in two.
9 Jaime Munguía
Still only 26, Munguía has already managed to pack 41 fights into his pro career, as well as remain unbeaten. In need of a test, or some defining fight, Munguía is best known for making five defences of the WBO super-welterweight title after winning it in 2018.
10 Luis Alberto Lopez
Lopez is the IBF featherweight belt-holder whose stock rose following two standout wins in Great Britain. The first of those came in 2021, when he stopped Isaac Lowe in seven rounds, while the second came last time out in December, when he outpointed Josh Warrington over 12 rounds.
