Canelo woke up after Crawford loss to experience something he hasn’t in seven years

Canelo Alvarez’s seven-year streak as a reigning world champion is over.

Terence Crawford ensured this by claiming an astonishing win over the now former undisputed super-middleweight king.

The 70,482 fans packed into the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, as well as those who tuned in to watch worldwide on Netflix, witnessed two pound-for-pound greats in a historic showdown.

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After overcoming the odds, that were undeniably stacked against him having climbed two-weight classes, Crawford extended his professional record to 42-0.

It showed how dominant a boxer Canelo had been given the shock loss marked the first time in seven years that he was not in possession of at least one belt.

Although his incredible streak as a title holder may now be over, he is undeniably one of the 21st Century’s pound-for-pound greats.

What was Canelo Alvarez’s seven-year reign as world champion?

The Mexican began his impressive streak in 2018, when he achieved a narrow majority decision win during his rematch with Gennady Golovkin.

Canelo handed the longtime champion his first loss as he claimed the WBC and WBA middleweight titles.

A year later, Canelo defeated Daniel Jacobs to claim his opponent’s IBF middleweight title and become the unified WBA, WBC and IBF champion of the division.

Continuing his impressive streak in a second outing in 2019, the Mexican challenger stepped up to add the WBO light-heavyweight world title to his collection when he knocked out Sergey Kovalev.

Then, in his lone appearance of 2020, he went head-to-head with Britain’s Callum Smith.

Canelo dominated their bout in order to claim the WBA, WBC and Ring Magazine super-middleweight titles.

As he faced mandatory WBC world super-middleweight challengerAvni Yildirim in 2021, he not only defended his title but also knocked his opponent down in the third round.

After another KO win, Canelo was matched up to face-off with Billy Joe Saunders.

Following an eight-round stoppage due to Saunders sustaining a gruesome eye injury, their clash ended with Canelo winning the unified WBA, WBC and WBO super-middleweight belt.

From there, Caleb Plant had the only title of the super-middleweight division that Canelo had not yet claimed.

He ensured that no stone was left unturned when he got the opportunity to face the IBF title holder, Plant, in 2021, as Canelo delivered an 11th-round knockout to become the undisputed champion of the weight class.

Off the back of his continued success cleaning up in his fourth division he only lost once during his illustrious stint, when he clashed with Dmitry Bivol in Las Vegas in 2022.

Canelo’s staggering seven-year streak of title possession continued until September 2025 when he lost in Sin City.

The massive Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford event is now in the past, with ‘Bud’ leaving Allegiant Stadium as the undisputed super middleweight champion.

As lucrative as the night was for Crawford, the outcome was equally as opportunistic for another fighter who did not compete on the card.

For years, David Benavidez has campaigned to fight Canelo Alvarez. And for years, his callouts were ignored. Fans wanted the fight, but Alvarez seemed to have no interest.

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Now, in 2025, the fight might be fully on the table, with Alvarez lacking a definitive direction for his next career move.

Alvarez lost his belts on Saturday, but he is still widely considered to be one of the best fighters in the world. Most importantly, he is still a top-five pound-for-pound pay-per-view draw. As the face of Mexican boxing, there is almost no fight his fans would not show out for.

Nobody was a bigger winner on Saturday than Crawford, who made history and defied the odds in a truly dominant performance. But from a business perspective, the result might not have been better for anyone other than Benavidez.

David Benavidez is a big winner from Canelo-Crawford fallout

Many fans did not like how his title reign went, but there is no doubting Alvarez’s championship aura. Alvarez has been a titleholder for the last decade, and few fighters feel less equipped to hold a belt than he does.

By losing to Crawford, Alvarez does not have a belt for the first time since 2015. Depending on what happens next, it has been almost as long since he fought in a non-title bout.

At this point, being a champion has become ingrained in his personality. It did not define who he was, but Alvarez without a belt nearly seems like a tiger without its stripes. Whoever Alvarez fights next, it will be a pay-per-view headlining bout, and most likely with another title on the line.

Perhaps Alvarez rematches Crawford, but how lucrative would a rematch be at this point? The first fight was not competitive, and fans were not that enthused with the matchup to begin with. People might watch a rematch out of obligation, but the prestige of the fight has already been used up.

In that sense, if Alvarez is going to fight for a belt in his next outing, it will need to be in another division. He is much more willing to move up than down, having already fought at light heavyweight twice before, including winning the WBO 175-pound belt in 2019.

If he moves up, Benavidez is the obvious answer. Dmitry Bivol is there, but he is already tied up with Artur Beterbiev, making a rematch unlikely. Benavidez and Alvarez have been linked for years, and the fight is one fans believe should have already been made.

Benavidez has a devout fan base, but he is far from a bona fide pay-per-view star. Wins over Caleb Plant, Demetrius Andrade and David Morrell boosted his stock, but he is still waiting for that one big superfight to put him over the edge. Win or lose, Alvarez would be that fight.

Alvarez was asked about retirement in the ring and completely shrugged off the notion. If he returns to another title fight, it has to be Benavidez. ‘The Mexican Monster’ has a massive challenge in front of him with Anthony Yarde, but a potentially lucrative opportunity awaits him should he improve to 31-0.

Perhaps Alvarez returns to the William Scull and Edgar Berlanga route, but that does next to nothing for him at this point in his career. Now under Turki Alalshikh, Alvarez seems inclined to go wherever the money takes him, and for now, that road leads to David Benavidez.