The boxing world is buzzing as the highly anticipated super middleweight unification fight between Canelo Alvarez and undefeated Cuban challenger William Scull draws near. The championship bout is set for May 3 at ANB Arena in Riyadh, where Canelo will attempt to unify all super middleweight titles for the second time in his decorated career.
Scull has been making headlines with his bold pre-fight statements, particularly regarding the possibility of a knockout. "I want to go out there and enjoy it and see what happens. He's never been knocked out and maybe he'll get knocked out, but I don't know," the Cuban boxer told DAZN. "I'm working for a big 12-round fight," he added, suggesting he's preparing for the long haul rather than banking on an early finish.
When critics suggested Scull might be avoiding knockout talk out of caution, the IBF champion fired back during a press conference in Riyadh: "These are comments from people who have no knowledge of boxing. The knockout goes out and the knockout happens, that doesn't mean one thing, one thing has nothing to do with the other. Does he have a lot of knockouts? That's fine, but let's see if he can knock me out as easy as people say."
The undefeated Scull (23-0, 9 KOs) appears to be entering the biggest fight of his career with supreme confidence, referring to the upcoming event as "his party." "I'm happy, it's my party, what I've always done in my life. I was the last guest and I'm going to be the last one to take the show, because that's how things happen in life," he declared.
According to Statbet, the striking contrast in experience between these champions adds another fascinating layer to this matchup, with Alvarez bringing 66 professional fights worth of experience compared to Scull's 23.
Both fighters enter this unification bout coming off impressive victories. Scull captured the IBF super middleweight title in his last outing on October 19 when he defeated Vladimir Shishkin in Falkensee. Meanwhile, Canelo (62-2-2), who currently holds the WBC and WBO super middleweight belts, is fresh off an emphatic victory over Edgar Berlanga at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on September 14, 2024.
With all four major super middleweight titles on the line, this clash in Riyadh promises to be one of boxing's most significant events of the year.
