We are less than two weeks out from his comfortable win against Jaime Munguia and it seems as though Canelo Alvarez’s next opponent may have already been decided, although it may not be a name that many are familiar with.
Alvarez went the distance for a fifth consecutive fight as he outpointed his fellow Mexican at the beginning of the month – that being the longest stoppage draught of Canelo’s 65-fight career.
Yet, despite the lack of a knockout, Canelo put in the best performance of that same five-bout spell to silence doubters and prove that he remains as the top dog at super-middleweight.
Still, fans around the globe implore the undisputed super-middleweight champion to take on David Benavidez but ‘The Mexican Monster’s’ decision to move up to 175lbs out of frustration means that we are unlikely to see that contest take place any time soon, especially given Canelo’s huge financial demands to take what he admits is a dangerous fight.
Instead, there is an expectation that Alvarez will face Edgar Berlanga in September, but today it has been confirmed that the IBF have ordered the pound-for-pound superstar to defend his titles against unbeaten Cuban William Scull, according to Scull’s promoters ‘AGON Boxing’.
“The IBF has ordered the fight between Canelo and William Scull. Both teams have 4 weeks to reach an agreement or it will go to purse bid.”
At 31-years-old, Scull has appeared as a professional on 22 occasions and been successful in each of those bouts, winning nine contests by knockout as a result of his back-footed style.
‘El Indomable’ spent the early days of his career in Argentina, before moving to German promoters ‘AGON’ and in July 2022 he became the IBF super-middleweight mandatory challenger when he outpointed the unbeaten Evgeny Shvedenko (15-0).
Since then, Scull has fought on three occasions, winning by unanimous-decision in an eight-rounder and a six-rounder in Germany, before making his U.S. debut against Sean Hemphill on the Canelo-Munguia undercard ten days ago, scoring a knockdown in round five on his way to a 78-73, 76-75, 79-72 victory.
The IBF’s decision could prompt Canelo to ditch plans to face Berlanga, or whoever else may be lined up, and take on Scull in September or alternatively encourage him to reschedule and fight three times during 2024 – which would be his most active calendar year since 2021.
However, there is also the possibility that Canelo’s undisputed reign comes to an end, should he decide to vacate the IBF strap, opening the door for a clash between Scull and the next ranked contender, Vladimir Shishkin (16-0), for the vacant belt.
With just four weeks until purse bids are called, news can be expected from Canelo and his team relatively soon, but the demand for a fight between he and Scull may be a tough sell from a broadcaster’s perspective, regardless of the fact that the potential challenger represents a decent chance for Alvarez to score a first stoppage win since 2021.
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