Canelo is a superstar in decline. Álvarez is no longer adored even in his homeland
Sergey Sorokin June 19, 2024, 20:00 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Saúl will fight again against temporary opposition, fleeing from Bivol.
Saúl Álvarez is a world boxing superstar. Until recently, almost no one could dispute this thesis. Canelo accepted any challenge: he fought the best on the planet. And most of the time, the Mexican won and outplayed his opponents. But then there was a fight with Dmitry Bivol. And it completely changed Saul’s life. Since then, Alvarez has been steadily reducing the level of opposition and there are fewer and fewer brilliant fights. And the boxer never won ahead of schedule, which also raises big questions. Canelo is desperate to get the attention of David Benavidez. But instead, the Mexican chooses completely different opponents.
Let’s remember Álvarez’s previous fight:
Canelo won. But the old Mexican can no longer fight against the peaks.
A day before it was known that the Cuban William Scull would be Saúl’s new opponent. And if we just look at the insignia, not everything looks so bad. The boxer has a professional record of 22-0 and is number one in the IBF rankings, a mandatory contender for this belt. William’s promoter, Ingo Volkmann, announced the signing of the contract: “We are happy to have been able to reach an agreement with TGB Promotions. We have agreed to keep the details of the deal secret for now and cannot announce anything at this time. “Canelo’s team will be the first to disclose relevant information at the appropriate time.”
But you must understand that all of Skull’s achievements end exactly as mentioned above. A 22-0 career record is understandable. The Cuban fought very often at the beginning of his career, five times a year. And he defeated frankly weak opposition. His history even included a fight with Ivan Sakic, who at the time had a record of 1-27. The Cuban, of course, knocked him out. But now the record of the representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina is 1-48. And it is quite difficult to be proud of such a victory. And not all of the Cuban’s recent opponents were of the highest level.
William Scull
Photo: Martin Rose/Bongarts/Getty Images
Even with such a low level of opposition, Skull won early only nine times. And this is not due to the fact that he easily dismantles his opponents on points. It’s just that William doesn’t always have enough knockout power to finish off his opponents. The Cuban’s last early victory occurred almost three years ago. And then, over the course of four fights, the matter invariably came to a judge’s decision. Now Skull will have the fight of his life since Canelo is the first big name on his resume.
At the same time, it was recently reported that Alvarez could renounce the IBF title to avoid reuniting with Scull. At that time, boxing fans began to believe that the Mexican was still ready to give them a vacation, a fight with Benavidez or a long-awaited rematch with Bivol. But instead, everyone will have to watch how Canelo deals with another contender, whose status is too far from the top.
Saúl Álvarez and Jaime Munguía
Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Unfortunately, Canelo is destroying his superstar status with his own hands. And most importantly, even his compatriots begin to criticize the boxer. This is not surprising: fans expect fights between his favorite opponents and the best. Instead, they have casual fights that are more like sparring. Therefore, there is a feeling that the next fight will not generate the greatest interest. And only a loud challenge can save Alvarez’s flagging career. But Canelo hasn’t decided yet.
