Canelo Alvarez says he’s looking forward to defeating IBF super middleweight champion William Scull on Saturday to become a two-time undisputed 168-lb champion on DAZN PPV on May 3rd at The Venue in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Scull has the height, reach, and youth to pull off an upset of Canelo. Whether the judges would give the Cuban the decision is another matter. His fellow Cuban, Erislandy Lara, found out the hard way how tough it is to defeat Canelo by a decision in 2014. He outboxed Canelo in the same way Floyd Mayweather Jr. did, but was on the receiving end of a controversial decision. Could it be Scull’s turn?
Unified triple-belt champion Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) is still taking a lot of heat from fans on social media, who view this fight as a blatant cherry pick. They believe Canelo is using his goal of becoming the undisputed champion as an excuse for fighting another easy opponent.
Maintaining Dominance
However, there is no such thing as an easy fight for Canelo nowadays, because he’s slipped a couple of notches in the last three years. He’s not the fighter he was in 2021 nor in 2023. He’s slowing down with every fight, and at 34, he might lose to Scull and definitely Terence Crawford.
“Canelo, you’ve been part of 66 professional fights. Does 67 this week feel a little bit different?” said Chris Mannix to DAZN Boxing at today’s final press conference for Canelo’s undisputed super middleweight fight against William Scull.
“It feels the same. I love boxing, and for me, it feels the same,” said Canelo Alvarez. “I’m excited and ready for Saturday. ”
“A win this weekend will earn you the undisputed status for the second time as a pro. Will that mean something to you?” said Mannix.
“It means a lot because it means history for my career. That’s what I want,” said Canelo. That kind of things motivate me for my career. So, it means a lot.”
“What kind of fight are you expecting from Scull?” said Mannix.
“At the beginning, it’ll be a little bit difficult, but I’m a different Canelo now [than the one that fought Erislandy Lara in 2014],” said Canelo.
