Felix Alvarado’s majority decision win over Tobias Reyes in a late December elimination bout was recognized by the IBF in its latest rankings update, published on January 13.
In that fight Alvarado is ranked No. 3 in the flyweight division, while Reyes is No. 5. The top two 112-pound slots are empty.
Alvarado is now No. 1, while Reyes has dropped to 7th.
Alvarado, a 35-year-old from Nicaragua, is 42-4 (35 KOs). He turned professional in 2010, suffering a couple of defeats in undercard fights against Kazuto Ioka in 2013 and Juan Carlos Reveco in 2013. 2014, but finally found victory in 2018. That’s when he stopped Randy Petalcorin in seven rounds to win the vacant IBF title at 108 pounds. Alvarado made a couple of successful defenses before moving up to 112.
Ayala won the vacant IBF flyweight title in August, defeating Dave Apolinario in six rounds, meaning Alvarado is now in a position to force a rematch.
IBF title holders and No. 1 contenders in each weight class are:
Heavyweight: Daniel Dubois has the world title, No. 1 slot available. Dubois is scheduled to defend Joseph. Parker on February 22
Cruiser: Jai Opetaia has the world title, Huseyin Cinkara is the No. 1 contender.
Light Heavyweight: Artur Beterbiev has four world titles. Michael Eifert is the IBF’s No. 1 contender. Beterbiev’s bout with Dmitry Bivol is scheduled for February 22.
Super Middleweight: William Scull has a world title, slot number 1 available.
Middleweight: Janibek Alimkanuli wins IBF and WBO world titles; IBF slot number 1 is empty.
Junior Middleweight: Bakhram Murtazaliev has a world title, slot number 1 is available.
Welterweight: Jaron Ennis has a world title; Field number 1 is empty.
Junior Welterweight: Richardson Hitchins has world class position, number 1 slot available.
Junior Lightweight: Anthony Cacace has the world title, Eduardo Nunez is the No. 1 contender.
Featherweight: Angelo Leo has a world class title; Tomoki Kameda is contestant number 1.
Junior Featherweight Division: Naoya Inoue has won all four world titles and is scheduled to face his replacement, Ye Jun Kim, on January 24. The man Inoue was originally scheduled to face was Sam Goodman. Ranked #1 by the IBF and WBO.
Bantamweight: Ryosuke Nishida has a world title; Field number 1 is empty.
Junior Bantamweight Division: The world title is vacant as well as slot number 1.
Flyweight: Angel Ayala has a global title; Felix Alvarado is the number 1 competitor.
Junior Flyweight: Masamichi Yabuki has the world title. Christian Araneta is the number 1 contender.
Minimum weight: Pedro Taduran has the world title, number 1 slot available.
