Canelo Alvarez v William Scull - Tale of the Tape: Weight, height, reach, trainer & professional boxing records

We analyse the credentials and statistics of Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez and William Scull as the super-middleweight pair get set to contest a hugely-anticipated undisputed showdown in Saudi Arabia.

Over the years, many super-fights have fallen through when one of the main players loses in the last bout ahead of the big one.  

Canelo Alvarez has agreed to fight Terence Crawford in a battle of former pound-for-pound kings, later this year.

However, the Mexican must first overcome William Scull on Saturday 3rd May, in Riyadh, as he aims to become a two-time undisputed super-middleweight champion.  

The Mexican superstar has not looked at the peak of his powers in recent fights, but undoubtedly remains the main man at 168lbs.

Skull, meanwhile, will be aiming to pull off the biggest upset of the year, and potentially pull the plug on the scheduled end of summer blockbuster between pound-for-pound greats Canelo and Crawford.

Which way will it go?

Before we find out, check out 'The Tale of the Tape'.

Canelo Alvarez v William Scull - Tale of the Tape

	Canelo Alvarez	William Scull
Age:	34	32
Nickname:	'Canelo'	'El Indomable'
Height:	5ft 7.5ins	5ft 11ins
Reach:	70.5ins	73ins
Weight:	Super-middleweight	Super-middleweight
Trainer:	Eddie Reynoso	Franquis Aldama
Record:	62-2-2 (39 KOs)	23-0 (9 KOs)
Last Fight:	Won - (UD) v Edgar Berlanga (September 2024)	Won - (UD) v Vladimir Shishkin (October 2024)

Canelo Alvarez - In Profile

On paper, there are currently two super-middleweight world champions: Canelo Alvarez and William Scull.  

However, while that is ostensibly correct, only one of them is the ‘the man’ in the division.  

The Mexican is the WBA, WBC, WBO and lineal king, whereas ‘El Indomable’ is the IBF title-holder.  

Alvarez earned his status by defeating Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant, all of whom had never lost as professionals at the time they fought.  

The Cuban was the beneficiary of bureaucracy.  

The IBF ordered Canelo to make a mandatory defence against Scull, but the four-weight world champion opted to take on Edgar Berlanga, as he had a higher profile.  

As such, the sanctioning body stripped the Mexican of the belt.  

In some ways, the IBF are admirable for stringently sticking to their policy that a champion must face a mandatory every nine months.

However, their credibility is diminished by rankings which place unworthy challengers in prime positions.  

At 34, and having been a professional for 19 years, Canelo is starting to decline as a fighter.

Fight fans want to see him in real challenges rather than mandatory mismatches.  

While Alvarez should handle Scull with relative ease, it is imperative than he does not allow complacency to creep in, as a super-fight with Terence Crawford has been agreed for September.  

If Canelo overlooks his opponent, he could pay the price.

Strengths:	Weaknesses:
Feints	Slow feet
Ring IQ	Reflexes are diminishing
Timing	Hasn't stopped an opponent in three years
Punch variety	Punch output has dropped

William Scull - In Profile

William Scull was in the right place, at the right time.  

As the No.1 ranked contender with the IBF, the sanctioning body made him the mandatory challenger for the belt held by Canelo Alvarez.  

In boxing, rankings often do not reflect achievements, and this was the case with the Germany-based Cuban who ‘earned’ his lofty placing by defeating, the unheralded, Evgeny Shvedenko.  

When the IBF called for the Mexican to face Scull, Canelo opted to take on Edgar Berlanga instead, which resulted in him being stripped of the belt.  

‘El Indomable’ took on Vladimir Shishkin for the vacant title, in a bout which highlighted the absurdity of the situation.

The fight was anything but crowd-pleasing, both were tentative, Scull more so.  

Ultimately, the 33-year-old had his hand raised, but truth be told, neither deserved to win.  

While the man with 364 amateur contests under his belt was previously deemed too low-profile for Alvarez, the belt and the prospect of once more becoming undisputed super-middleweight king, have made Scull a viable opponent.  

If the Cuban is to be successful, he will need to show more ambition than he did against Shishkin; his negative boxing will likely be punished by the Canelo.

Strengths:	Weaknesses:
Keeps his head off centre line	Low punch output
Difficult to hit cleanly	Negative style
Jab	Can be out-worked
Hand speed	Gets pushed back to the ropes