Every time Canelo Alvarez fights, the boxing world tunes in. It comes with the territory of being “The Face of Boxing“. While that’s incredible for Canelo’s brand name and legacy, it can be a downfall when one of his fights disappoints. That’s exactly what happened on Saturday night.
A matchup against William Scull was never expected to be a Fight of the Year contender, but it was terrible in many fans’ eyes. At one point, the crowd at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia began booing. Ultimately, Alvarez won by unanimous decision and is once again undisputed at super middleweight. In the end, he was handicapped by a boxer who was way, way too defensive.
Fans took note of Scull’s unwillingness to get close to Alvarez. In part, that was the strategy. But it didn’t work, and it ended up making the incoming IBF champion look really bad in the biggest fight of his career.
Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford confirmed for September in Vegas
With Scull out of the way, Turki Alalshikh wasted no time moving on to his next opponent. The power promoter brought Terence Crawford, who was sitting ringside, into the ring immediately after Alvarez was announced as the winner. Alalshikh then confirmed that Canelo and Crawford will square off on September 12 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Many fans will favor Crawford in that fight, particularly after what they saw from Alvarez. But even Crawford himself admitted Canelo did what he could with the opponent that was in front of him. Both Crawford and Alvarez are hoping for a much more entertaining matchup in September.
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