Felix Alvarado is the IBF’s new No. 1 flyweight contender

Felix Alvarado’s majority decision win over Tobias Reyes in a late December title elimination bout has been recognized by the IBF in its latest ratings update, which was released January 13.

Going into that bout, Alvarado was ranked third at flyweight while Reyes was ranked fifth. The top two slots at 112lbs had been vacant.

Alvarado is now No. 1 while Reyes has dropped to No. 7.

Alvarado, a 35-year-old from Nicaragua, is 42-4 (35 KOs). He turned pro in 2010, suffered a pair of defeats in secondary title fights against Kazuto Ioka in 2013 and Juan Carlos Reveco in 2014, but finally found glory in 2018. That’s when he stopped Randy Petalcorin in seven rounds to win the vacant IBF title at 108lbs. Alvarado made a pair of successful defenses before moving up to 112.

Ayala won the vacant IBF flyweight title in August, knocking out Dave Apolinario in six rounds. That means Alvarado is now in position to force the rematch.

The IBF’s titleholders and No. 1 contenders in each weight class are:

Heavyweight: Daniel Dubois has the world title; the No. 1 slot is vacant. Dubois is scheduled to defend against Joseph Parker on February 22.

Cruiserweight: Jai Opetaia has the world title; Huseyin Cinkara is the No. 1 contender.

Light heavyweight: Artur Beterbiev has all four world titles. Michael Eifert is the IBF’s No. 1 contender. Beterbiev’s rematch with Dmitry Bivol is scheduled for February 22.

Super middleweight: William Scull has the world title; the No. 1 slot is vacant.

Middleweight: Janibek Alimkhanuly has the IBF and WBO world titles; the IBF’s No. 1 slot is vacant.

Junior middleweight: Bakhram Murtazaliev has the world title; the No. 1 slot is vacant.

Welterweight: Jaron Ennis has the world title; the No. 1 slot is vacant.

Junior welterweight: Richardson Hitchins has the world title; the No. 1 slot is vacant.

Junior lightweight: Anthony Cacace has the world title; Eduardo Nunez is the No. 1 contender.

Featherweight: Angelo Leo has the world title; Tomoki Kameda is the No. 1 contender.

Junior featherweight: Naoya Inoue has all four world titles and is scheduled to face late replacement Ye Joon Kim on January 24. The man Inoue was originally scheduled to meet is Sam Goodman, who is ranked first by the IBF and WBO.

Bantamweight: Ryosuke Nishida has the world title; the No. 1 slot is vacant

Junior bantamweight: The world title is vacant, as is the No. 1 slot.

Flyweight: Angel Ayala has the world title; Felix Alvarado is the No. 1 contender.

Junior flyweight: Masamichi Yabuki has the world title; Christian Araneta is the No. 1 contender.

Minimumweight: Pedro Taduran has the world title; the No. 1 slot is vacant