Canelo Álvarez showed up. He did his job. He kept his belts.
But man… it wasn’t pretty.
The undisputed super middleweight champ took on undefeated Cuban contender William Scull in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night — and while the stage was massive, the action? Not so much.
Canelo won by unanimous decision (119–109, 116–112, 115–113), defending his WBA, WBC, WBO, and IBF titles. But the fight was so slow, even your grandma scrolling TikTok would’ve called it boring.
Seriously — according to CompuBox, the two fighters combined to throw just 445 punches over 12 rounds. That’s not a stat. That’s a nap.
Canelo landed only 56 punches. Scull? 55. It was more like a staring contest than a slugfest. The crowd booed. The ref literally told them to fight more.
Reuters reported fans were restless, and even Canelo admitted afterward it wasn’t his most exciting night: “He didn’t want to fight. What can I do?”
POV: William Scull vs Canelo 😭 pic.twitter.com/xdmCCQzvQe
— CALLMEFANTA (@ITSDAFANTA) May 4, 2025
Haney was boring, Ryan was boring, Canelo was boring…
You know who isn’t boring and comes to entertain the fans?
JARON BOOTS ENNIS pic.twitter.com/SWKUAYBxeo
— bhyark (@bhyark23) May 4, 2025
Look, Canelo got the W. He’s still the king of 168. But this one won’t be on the highlight reel.
So why should you care? Because right after the fight, Canelo made it official — the real fireworks are coming September 12.
He’s taking on Terence Crawford in Las Vegas. Yup, that Crawford. The undefeated, multi-division champ who’s moving up to challenge Canelo in what’s shaping up to be one of the biggest fights of the year.
That one? Get the popcorn ready.
But as for Saturday night? Just be glad you didn’t pay pay-per-view prices for a glorified sparring match.