Anthony Joshua ranks Canelo Alvarez as No1 P4P boxer in world as Eddie Hearn calls him ‘best he’s ever seen up close’

EDDIE HEARN revealed Canelo Alvarez is the best fighter he has 'ever seen up close' with Anthony Joshua rating the Mexican as boxing's No1.

Hearn has promoted Canelo's last two fight, against Matchroom's Callum Smith and Turkish mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim.

After beating Smith, Alvarez signed a two-fight deal with AJ's promoter, with the second coming against Billy Joe Saunders on May 8.

It will be the fourth time he has fought a Hearn-promoted star, following wins over Rocky Fielding and Daniel Jacobs.

And having failed in every attempt to dethrone the pound-for-pound No1, Hearn has been left in awe of the four-division champion.

He said: "There's no debate that Canelo Alvarez is the pound-for-pound number one and he continues to fight the best.

"I've been around the sport for 34 years and I do feel like a fan-boy around Canelo Alvarez because he's the best fighter I've ever seen up close.

"Anthony Joshua will always be my No1, but AJ looks at Canelo Alvarez and said this guy is the pound-for-pound number one."

Following a 12-round domination against Smith, 30, in December, Canelo won the WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine super-middleweight belts.

And he will unify them against WBO champ Saunders in the summer, with IBF champion Caleb Plant, 28, eyed after that.

Canelo is also top of Ring Magazine's mythical P4P ranking, having lost just once in his 58 fights, against Floyd Mayweather in 2013.

With Alvarez dreaming of ending the year as undisputed champ, hopes of a trilogy bout with Gennady Golovkin, 38, have been dashed.

GGG and Canelo had a pair of thrillers at middleweight, with the first ending in a draw and Alvarez winning the rematch a year later.

But along with his trainer Eddy Reynoso, they are only interested in title unifications, with Golovkin instead lined up to face Jaime Munguia, 24, or Ryota Murata, 35.

Hearn said: “The focus of Canelo and Eddy is to be undisputed champion, and if we were to follow that line, it goes with Saunders in May, with Plant in September.

“The fight with Golovkin remains there as one great fight, but right now Canelo has history and legacy on his mind.

"Golovkin-Munguia would be a great fight, Golovkin and Murata could be at the end of the year, in December, so Munguia with Golovkin would be full of action, it would be a very big fight, but maybe not in May.”