Canelo Alvarez vs. William Scull: Tale of the Tape

Canelo Alvarez will aim to become the undisputed super middleweight champion once again when he faces William Scull in Riyadh in May.

The Mexican superstar won the undisputed title in 2021, but he was stripped of the IBF belt in 2024 when he opted to fight Edgar Berlanga instead of taking on mandatory challenger Scull.

Scull battled past Vladimir Shishkin to win the title in October, and now he will look to record the biggest win of his career in Saudi Arabia.

Who will prevail? Let's look at the Tale of the Tape...

	Saul Alvarez	William Scull
Odds:	-2500	+1200
Age:	34	32
Nickname:	Canelo	El Indomable
Height:	5’ 7”	5’ 11”
Reach:	70.5”	73”
Weight:	Welterweight Light Middleweight Middleweight Super Middleweight Light Heavyweight	Super Middleweight
Trainer:	Eddy Reynoso	Franquis Aldama
Record:	62-2-2 (39KOs)	23-0 (9KOs)
Last Fight:	Win by UD v Edgar Berlanga (14 September 2024)	Win by UD v Vladimir Shishkin (19 October 2024)

Canelo Alvarez profile

Alvarez comes into this fight with a record of 62-2-2 (39 KOs) and he remains one of the biggest names in the sport.

The Mexican began his professional boxing career aged 15, and by 20 he had become the youngest boxer to win the WBC light middleweight title in 2011.

Alvarez raced up the rankings after some successful nights in Mexico, before making his American debut in October 2008, beating Larry Mosley to move to 22-0-1.

Three years later, he beat Matthew Hatton to win the vacant light middleweight title, and that was the start of his dominance on the world stage.

Wins over Ryan Rhodes, Alfonso Gomez, Kermit Cintron, Shane Mosley, Josesito Lopez and Austin Trout helped him make a name for himself before he suffered the first defeat of his career at the hands of Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Mayweather Jr. put on a boxing clinic to beat Alvarez, but Canelo recovered by winning seven fights on the spin, beating Erislandy Lara, James Kirkland, Miguel Cotto, Amir Khan, Liam Smith and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. before he had his first fight with Gennady Golovkin.

Their opening bout was scored a draw in September 2017, but Alvarez got revenge in 2018.

Alvarez has since beaten the likes of Daniel Jacobs, Sergey Kovalev, Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders, Caleb Plant, John Ryder, Jermell Charlo and Jaime Munguia.

Only Dmitry Bivol has beaten Alvarez since he lost to Mayweather Jr. and he has now held multiple world titles in four weight classes.

He is widely regarded as one of the best boxers of all time, and he has often been labelled as the pound-for-pound best during his career.

Strengths	Weaknesses
Defensive Skills (Footwork, Head Movement)	Reaction Time
Elite Fighting Strategies	Movement can be Stiff or Slow
Power

William Scull in profile

Cuban Scull did not turn professional until 2016, but like Alvarez, he quickly climbed through the rankings after some impressive performances.

He began his career in Argentina, fighting in South America from 2016 until 2018, moving to 9-0 during that time.

Scull's first title success was the South American super-middleweight title in July 2019, before he won the vacant IBO international crown in February 2021.

Unlike Alvarez, Scull's career has gone under the radar and the biggest win of his career came in October 2024 when he beat Shishkin.

Scull was listed as the mandatory challenger for Alvarez's IBF super middleweight belt, only for the champion to relinquish the belt instead.

Shishkin and Scull clashed in Germany for the belt, and Scull proved too good for his rival as he won via unanimous decision.

While Alvarez may be coming to the end of his career, Scull will feel he is just getting started at world level and he will be desperate to prove a point after being made to wait for his shot at undisputed glory.

Scull has caught the eye with some incredible performances, albeit against weaker opposition, and he will be eager to prove he belongs on the world stage against one of the sport's biggest names.

Strengths	Weaknesses
Great fundamentals	Lack of explosive power
Elite ring intelligence	Lack of experience on the big stage
Fast hands and solid footwork

Odds displayed within this article were correct at the time of writing and are subject to change.