Canelo Alvarez Snatches IBF Super Middleweight Title from William Scull

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Canelo Alvarez continued his brilliance inside the ring after taking away William Scull’s International Boxing Federation (IBF) super middleweight championship belt on May 4, 2025, at the ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

With another main event win, Alvarez once again unified the super middleweight division and is the current WBA, WBC, WBO, and IBF king of the 168-lb division.

Entering the bout with a momentum-boosting five-match winning streak, Alvarez had no panic at all and is in a familiar position in the bright lights of a unification clash.

Alvarez immediately set the tone in the opening round after targeting Scull’s mid-section while also dictating the tempo with his fluid jab combinations.

The Mexican slugger followed the usual pattern of his camp’s strategy, and that was to wear down Scull with the body shots and avoid unnecessary exchanges in the final 20 seconds of every round.

Despite the plain and straightforward approach, Alvarez displayed efficiency in every round and limited Scull’s punching attempts by cornering him in his weak side, which was his left hand.

Scull received some boos midway through the fight after hesitating to throw the big combinations several times. Analysts were lost whether he was too afraid to break through Alvarez’s guard, or he was just too passive.

Alvarez stepped on the gas pedal in terms of his punches thrown in the final three rounds, but Scull refused to bite the bait and remained on the back foot for the majority of the championship frames.

Without any fireworks ongoing inside the ring, Alvarez initiated twice in the final round, but Scull only replied with soft jabs and wild haymakers out of desperation.

All of the three official ringside judges scored the bout in favor of Alvarez, 115-113, 116-112, 119-109, to improve his professional boxing record to 63 wins, 39 knockouts, and two losses.

On the other hand, Scull’s disappointing performance was his lone pro defeat, falling to 23 victories, nine knockouts, and a loss.

“That’s why I don’t like to fight those kinds of guys, they come just to survive and just to do the 12 rounds. That’s why I don’t like them,” Alvarez said of Scull during his post-fight interview.