Saul `Canelo` Alvarez has once again asserted his dominance as the undisputed champion in the super-middleweight division, securing a victory over William Scull in Riyadh. The outcome, decided by unanimous decision, saw varied scoring from the judges: Pablo Gonzalez scored it 115-113, Ron McNair 116-112, and Danrex Tapdasan delivered a significantly wider card of 119-109, all favoring Canelo.
Scull, despite his physical size advantage, adopted a cautious and evasive strategy, utilizing feints and constant movement but offering little offensive threat. Canelo, in his characteristic style, patiently pursued Scull, probing with his left hand early on to gauge reactions. A sharp right hand to the body landed in the second round as Scull attempted to disengage.
Briefly attempting to engage and land his own right hand in the third round, Scull quickly reverted to his defensive tactics. These antics continued into the fourth. Canelo wasn`t connecting with many clean shots, but Scull landed almost nothing of significance, although this defensive posture did prevent him from absorbing heavy damage.
Despite his build, Scull showed no inclination for standing and trading blows. Instead, his movement mirrored that of Erislandy Lara, dipping in and out, seemingly intent on frustrating Alvarez and perhaps lasting the full distance. His uppercut appeared functional but lacked commitment behind it.
“Pay attention,” instructed trainer Eddy Reynoso between rounds six and seven. Scull managed to land a few shots, notably the uppercut, but still didn`t fully commit to his offense.
This pattern persisted through the final rounds. The responsibility fell on Canelo to force the action and corner Scull. However, the Cuban fighter was content to circle and evade danger.
Punch statistics from CompuBox revealed Scull threw significantly more punches (293) compared to Canelo (152). However, Canelo landed slightly more punches overall (56 to 55). While Scull led in headshots landed (22-8), Canelo dominated in body shots (40-6).
Following a lengthy post-fight segment, Canelo and Terence Crawford had a face-off, teasing what Turki Alalshikh referred to as the `Fight of the Century` planned for Las Vegas in September.
Reflecting on the main event in Riyadh, Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) was critical of Scull (23-1, 9 KOs), stating that his opponent seemed focused solely on survival rather than attempting to win the fight.
