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So, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez finds himself in the strange position of needing to be good against William Scull on Saturday, but maybe not too good.
As Canelo makes his Saudi debut and aims to become a two-time undisputed super-middleweight champion, he is not only defending his unified titles; he is aiming to preserve the biggest bout of his career: September’s planned super-fight with Terence Crawford.
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In that sense, the Mexican icon of course needs a win, which is exactly what is expected in Riyadh. Yet there is an argument that there might actually be some downside in an emphatic victory. It all relates to that match-up with Crawford – one of the biggest of a generation, but also one of the most contrived.
Crawford has fought at four weights and held world titles in all of them, though he is best known for his endeavours at 147lb, where he became undisputed welterweight champion with a stunning evisceration of Errol Spence Jr in 2023. What was believed by most to be a 50-50 fight ended up as a blowout. But when the 37-year-old American hit a career-high of 154lb last summer, he was not at his sharpest – even in a super-welterweight title win against the game Israil Madrimov. Now, he must venture all the way up to 167lb, a weight where Canelo has been comfortable for years.
A common boxing theory suggests that when two fighters are close in skill but distant in weight, the naturally bigger man should win. Therefore, there are fears that Canelo’s size alone could prove decisive, despite Crawford ranking higher than the 34-year-old on just about every fan and pundit’s pound-for-pound list.
Yes, Canelo is one of the premier talents of his generation, but he has shown flaws that the unbeaten Crawford has not. If Canelo were to emerge victorious, it would be difficult not to feel that his weight was too much of a differentiator. This is not meant to undermine the skill he would need to display to defeat Crawford, however, because Canelo will need to be excellent against the southpaw, no matter what.
Against Scull, though, it might be better if Canelo is just good.
That is to say: a bit of vulnerability from the Mexican, against his Cuban foe, might bolster belief that Crawford can overcome the weight disparity and pull off a legacy-boosting win.
The issue is that Canelo should have little trouble against Scull, 32, whose unbeaten record belies the fact that he has conquered no names of note. In fact, Scull’s own profile is lacking in comparison to Canelo’s usual opposition, and it only grew under unwelcome circumstances last week.
Ahead of Conor Benn’s middleweight defeat by Chris Eubank Jr, the former’s father, Nigel, dismissed usual boxing etiquette to spill some sparring stories. He insinuated that Conor bullied Scull recently, and that the latter quit after eight rounds.
“I was at a different stage in my preparation than him,” Scull told The Ring, aiming to set the record straight. “We had good rounds, maybe in some of them he touched me more and in some I touched him more. That’s sparring. But I heard the way his father told it, and it’s not true. That I took my gloves off, that’s a lie; that I quit, that’s a lie.
“Many things happened there, and I do not want to make excuses, but I also had a new headguard which kept slipping around. These things happen in sparring, but it doesn't matter in an actual fight. We actually asked them for a second session, but they said ‘no’. They didn’t want it, so it is what it is. This has actually made me focus more, so it has turned into a good thing for me. Thank you to them.”
Perhaps more pertinently, Scull’s promoter Ingo Volckmann told iFL TV: “We said we make eight rounds, we said we make one-minute stop, because it was our first sparring. He was already doing some sparring – eight rounds. We said eight rounds, we did eight rounds. I really have to laugh a little bit. First of all, even if it [had been] like this, nobody speaks about it; [that’s] sportsmanship. Next time [...] we’ll make 14 rounds with him. We can do it easily.”
There is Nigel Benn’s story, there is Scull and Volckmann’s story, and the truth might lie somewhere in between. The reality is that Canelo was always going to be heavily favoured against Scull, regardless of whether the Cuban actually struggled with a welterweight who was bulking to middleweight.
Fans can only hope that Scull now has the bit between his teeth, even more so than before, and that he can cause Canelo some concern. If he can, there may be less cause for concern about the Crawford clash.
English (US) ·