"He didn't get blown out" - Andre Ward says Canelo Alvarez shouldn't be dropped from the pound-for-pound list

Andre Ward (left), Canelo Alvarez (right) [Images via @andresogward and @canelo on Instagram]

On May 7, Canelo Alvarez suffered his second career defeat to Dmitry Bivol in a light heavyweight bout. The Mexican was the king of the pound-for-pound rankings prior to the fight but has now dropped to sixth place. Alvarez is still part of the top 10, which former two-weight champion Andre Ward feels he deserves to be, despite his recent loss.

Although Alvarez has competed in the light heavyweight division before, the extra weight seemed to take a toll on him during the fight. He looked tired and fatigued by the middle rounds, resulting in Bivol taking control.

After Alvarez's drop from the top of The Ring's pound-for-pound chart, Andre Ward has expressed his opinion on the matter. The American tweeted his response to WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman suggesting that Canelo Alvarez should still be at the top of the list. 'S.O.G.' wrote:

"I do agree with Mauricio that Canelo should not be dropped completely from the P4P list because of a loss. Canelo has put in too much work and he didn’t get blown out. But you can’t hold the #1 spot after a loss. Too many great fighters deserve to be on the list."

I do agree with Mauricio that Canelo should not be dropped completely from the P4P list because of a lost. Canelo has put in too much work and he didn’t get blown out. But you can’t hold the #1 spot after a loss. Too many great fighters deserve to be on the list. twitter.com/boxingscene/st…

Andre Ward himself held the No.1 position on the list in June 2017 after his victory over Sergey Kovalev.

Canelo Alvarez is booked to face Gennadiy Golovkin on September 17, which will be an eagerly anticipated trilogy bout. If the Mexican is successful over his 40-year-old rival, he will most likely look to rematch Bivol with the aim of reclaiming his royalty in the pound-for-pound chart.

Besides Canelo Alvarez, which other fighters deserve to be on The Ring Magazine's latest pound-for-pound list?

The latest list currently has Naoya Inoue in the first place, with the likes of Terence Crawford and Vasiliy Lomachenko also on it.

Check out talkSPORT's Michael Benson's tweet with the pound-for-pound list:

📋 Naoya Inoue has now overtaken Oleksandr Usyk as Ring Magazine's new pound-for-pound king:

1️⃣🇯🇵 Naoya Inoue
2️⃣🇺🇦 Oleksandr Usyk
3️⃣🇺🇸 Terence Crawford
4️⃣🇺🇸 Errol Spence
5️⃣🇲🇽 Juan Estrada
6️⃣🇲🇽 Canelo
7️⃣🇺🇦 Vasyl Lomachenko
8️⃣🇷🇺 Dmitry Bivol
9️⃣🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Josh Taylor
🔟🇺🇸 Jermell Charlo

After becoming the Unified Light Heavyweight World Champion last weekend, Artur Beterbiev will likely claim a spot in the next pound-for-pound rankings. The Russian is one of the deadliest punchers in the sport of boxing and is chasing down undisputed status in a future fight with Dmitry Bivol.

Tyson Fury may feel like he deserves a place on the list following his emphatic victory over Dillian Whyte at Wembley Stadium in April. However, he has made many retirement claims.

Devin Haney is now the Undisputed Lightweight World Champion following his unanimous decision victory over George Kambosos Jr. on June 5. The young American is still undefeated and is one of the best lightweights in recent memory.

George Kambosos Jr. (left) vs. Devin Haney (right)