Shakur Stevenson gave a balanced assessment of why the fight between Canelo Alvarez and David Benavidez has not yet taken place.

Both multi-weight world champions seemed to be on a collision course at 168 pounds, with Canelo reigning as the undisputed king.

Meanwhile, Benavidez held the “interim” WBC title after becoming a two-time super middleweight world champion and awaited his mandatory shot at the full WBC title.

This opportunity, however, never materialized as Canelo continued to defend his undisputed crown against alternative opposition.

During that time, the Mexican had one-sided points victories over the likes of John Ryder and Jermell Charlo, but was widely criticized for failing to face his most formidable rival, Benavidez.

Benavidez has since won the WBC 175-pound title and now looks set to become a three-weight world champion against Gilberto Ramirez, whom he will face on May 2 for the WBO and WBA cruiserweight titles.

This may seem like a bold move, but the 29-year-old’s physique will enable him to develop into an effective 200-pound operator, while Canelo is clearly best suited at 168 pounds.

The natural size difference therefore made their clash even less likely, as Stevenson points out Joe Rogan that in his opinion this is the most significant factor.

“Benavidez is too large for Canelo. I see both sides. I love Benavidez and I’m a fan of his, so I see the ‘fight me, brother’ side.”

“But then I see Canelo’s attitude. He’s like, ‘Man, this guy regularly weighs 200 pounds. I don’t get anywhere near that weight, so I ask myself, ‘Why would I fight this guy?'”

Despite a unanimous decision loss to Terence Crawford, Canelo was promised a shot at the world championship by Turki Alalshikh in Riyad, Saudi Arabia in September this year.

Potential options include Christian Mbilli and Jose Armando Resendiz, the respective WBC and WBA champions, while the IBF and WBO super middleweight world titles remain vacant following Crawford’s retirement.

“If you ask me to immaculate your shoes, I will immaculate them,” Hearn told The Stomping Ground. “But basically the reference was that I said I wasn’t too proud to know my position and the opportunities open to me.”

Over the past two years, Saudi Arabia has financed a series of major boxing events, combining several championship fights that had been stalled in customary negotiations. Matchroom-promoted fighters have appeared on a number of Riyad’s season cards during this period, including major title fights and heavyweight events featuring some of the sport’s most recognizable names.

Hearn said his approach has always been elementary. When an opportunity arises that will benefit the players and the company, the priority is to take advantage of it rather than worrying about what the moment will look like in public.

“My senior man says if you walk past a fivepence coin on the floor you’ll pick it up,” Hearn said. “If a great opportunity comes along, we make money and I enjoy it, no problem.”

Hearn added that he expects to continue working with Turki on future boxing events, despite the occasional public exchange. Several promoters now partner with Saudi-backed events, and financing has become a regular feature of the sport’s biggest fight negotiations.

“I think he enjoys working with us,” Hearn said. “He will always do what suits him and we will continue to do what suits us and our players.”

Former heavyweight champion Oliver McCall still appears in the US heavyweight rankings at the age of 60, an unusual entry that immediately raises questions about how those rankings are calculated.

BoxRec currently ranks McCall 51st among American heavyweights and in the top 250 in the world, which puts the “Atomic Bull” ahead of several energetic fighters.

Below McCall are DeAndre Savage (No. 54), Josh Popper (No. 59), Curtis Harper (No. 61), Ed Latimore (No. 70) and Tyrrell Herndon (No. 83).

What stands out about these spots is that many of these players have been much more energetic in recent years, while McCall’s appearances have been constrained. Several of them also faced noticeably stronger opposition.

Oliver McCall’s ranking anomaly

McCall, whose professional career began in 1985, has a record of 61-14-1 with 40 knockouts and remains one of the most recognizable heavyweight champions of the 1990s.

The Chicago native defeated Lennox Lewis to win the WBC title before building one of boxing’s longest-lasting careers.

Despite turning 60, McCall still wrestles occasionally under the Country Box banner. His last appearances were in Nashville, Tennessee, where he recorded wins over Gary Cobia and Stacy Frazier and a draw with Carlos Reyes.

McCall fought just three times in six years and drew once. The level of his opponents doesn’t even register on any significant scale compared to some of the fighters listed around him, especially Tyrrell Herndon, who could reasonably be rated higher simply for surviving a seven-round loss to Deontay Wilder.

The anomaly raises a broader question. Is this just a quirk of the ranking system or something that requires further explanation?

It is known that BoxRec uses a points-based formula, but it is unclear whether the calculations are currently fully automated and whether human supervision still plays a role in determining the order.

Mike Tyson Rating

For context, Mike Tyson’s return to Jake Paul – when Tyson was two years younger than the current McCall – placed the former undisputed champion at No. 74 in the United States and No. 338 in the world.

That ranking was about a hundred places below McCall’s current global standing, even though Tyson’s return attracted much more attention and faced a much more vital opponent.

McCall turned professional at the age of 19, meaning the former heavyweight champion is still appearing in the rankings more than forty years after his debut.

On this basis, the existence of a plain nostalgia factor can probably be ruled out.

Instead, the situation indicates that algorithm-based rankings can sometimes produce results that do not reflect activity or opposition.

Whether the breakdown reflects a system working exactly as designed or an anomaly worthy of closer examination is a fair question.

About the author

Phil Jay is a seasoned boxing journalist with over 15 years of experience covering the global fight scene. As editor-in-chief of World Boxing News since 2010, Jay has interviewed dozens of world champions and covered boxing’s biggest nights in the ring. View all articles by Phil Jay.