So Saul "Canelo" Alvarez finds himself in a weird position that needs to be against William Scull, but maybe not also OK
With Canelo debuting in his Saudi Arabia and intending to be two undisputed super middleweight champions, he not only defends his unification championship. His goal is to maintain the biggest round of his career: a super fight with Terence Crawford in September.
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In this sense, Mexican idols certainly need victory, which is exactly what Riyadh expects. However, there is an argument that there may actually be some shortcomings in the focus victory. It all has to do with the showdown with Crawford, the biggest of a generation, but one of the biggest artificial games.
Crawford fought with four weights and had a world title in it, despite being known for his 147-pound effort, where he was stunning with the amazing Errol Spence JR in 2023. But when the 37-year-old American reached a career-high of 154 pounds last summer, he wasn't the keenest—even in a match against Israel Madrimov, he was the champion of the superweight title. Now, he has to venture until 167 pounds, the weight Canelo has been comfortable for years.
A common boxing theory shows that when the skills of two fighters are close but the weight is far away, natural people should win. So, while Crawford ranks above the 34-year-old, Canelo's size can prove decisive on the pound list of nearly every fan and expert.
Yes, Canelo is one of the main talents of his generation, but he shows a flaw that Crawford doesn't have. If Canelo is going to win, it will be hard not to think that he is too heavy. It's not about destroying the skills he needs to show to beat Crawford, because Canelo Will be Anyway, it must be excellent for the South Paw.
However, in the case of fighting SCULL, it might be better if Canelo is good.
That is: the Mexican opposes his Cuban enemy and may support Crawford who can overcome the weight gap and achieve victory in working to improve the legacy.
The problem is that Canelo has no doubt about Scull, 32, his unbeaten record covers the fact that he has not conquered any name. In fact, Scull's own profile is lacking compared to Canelo's usual objection and has only grown in unpopularity last week.
After Conor Benn's middleweight defeat at Chris Eubank, former father Nigel dismissed the usual boxing etiquette, some story of Isaac's company. He hinted that Conor had recently bullied Little River, who withdrew after eight rounds.
“My preparations are the same as his,” Scull told Ring, aiming to keep the record straight. "We had a good round, maybe in some of them he touched me more, and in some of them I stroked him. It was a fight. But I heard the way his father told it, it wasn't right. I took off my gloves, it was a lie; I quit, it was a lie.
"A lot of things happened and I didn't want to make excuses, but I also had a new sanitation officer who kept walking around. These things happened in company, but it didn't matter in an actual battle. We actually asked them to have a second session, but they said "no". They didn't want it, and that actually made me more focused, so it became my good thing.
Perhaps more relevant, Scull promoter Ingo Volckmann told IFL TV: "We said we had eight rounds, we said we stopped for a minute because it was our first company. He was already doing eight rounds - we said eight rounds. We said eight rounds, and we did eight rounds. (...) We could do 14 rounds with him."
There are Nigel Benn's stories, Scull and Volckmann's stories, and the facts may be in between. The reality is that whether the Cubans are really trapped in a middleweight fight against the middleweight, Canelo will always be extremely favored by SCULL.
Fans can only hope that Scull's current position between teeth is larger than before, and that he can cause Canelo's concern. If possible, the attention to the Crawford conflict may be less.