Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez made a strange move, but finally confirmed his opponent for his next fight, on May 3 with two particular elements for that fight: he will seek to become undisputed super middleweight champion again and will leave the Las Vegas venue for the first time in five years, on one of the most coveted dates of the year for world boxing, the commemoration of Cinco de Mayo.
Thus, according to ESPN’s Salvador Rodriguez, Canelo will face the undefeated Cuban William Scull in Saudi Arabia, the division’s champion for the International Boxing Federation (IBF), who stripped the Mexican of his title for refusing to face him last year. If he wins, the Mexican would regain his undisputed super middleweight title
The official announcement came from Sheikh Turki Alalshick.
And Scull would be the warm-up to face Terence Crawford, also in the Middle East, in September, in the first fight in history between two undisputed champions
With this decision, Canelo would leave aside the challenges of people like Jake Paul, who was very close to closing a cruiserweight fight with the Mexican and David Benavidez, who did not even enter the rumors as a possible rival of Canelo for this May date
Who is William Scull, Canelo Alvarez’s next opponent?
William Scull holds the IBF title at 168 pounds, after the organization dethroned the Mexican champion for refusing to face his mandatory challenger, Scull, in 2024. The Canelo Team rejected the challenge, stating that he did not have enough of a reputation to hold a fight of this category
This will be the first of four fights Canelo signed with Riyadh Season, which includes a fight in September against Terence Crawford, as well as two more fights in the Middle East in 2026.
Canelo had exclusivity for the May 5 date, usually in Las Vegas, since 2021, when he knocked out Billy Joe Saunders. Then in 2022 he was surprisingly defeated by Dmitry Bivol. In 2023 he fought in Jalisco, Mexico against John Ryder and last year he defeated Mexican Jaime Munguia, again in Las Vegas
His 32-year-old rival won his title after defeating Vladimir Shishkin on points last October. He has an unbeaten record of 23-0 with nine knockouts, and will join the list of undefeated world champions that the Mexican Alvarez has faced, although the Mexican is a heavy favorite.