Last week, Canelo Alvarez signed a four-fight deal with Riyadh Season that will start in May 2025 and run until fall 2026.
"Don't mess with the lion. Canelo Alvarez has signed a monumental 4-fight deal with Riyadh Season! His journey begins this May in Saudi Arabia." His Excellency Turki Alalshikh posted to Instagram to confirm the news of Canelo's partnership with Riyadh Season.
The 34-year-old Canelo had quite a fascinating week. First, it was announced that he would fight Terence Crawford in September in front of 65,000 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, as part of a three-fight deal with Riyadh season. Later, it appeared that he would fight Jake Paul on Netflix in May. However, Turki Alalshikh and Riyadh season signed Alvarez for a fourth fight, which resulted in Alvarez facing IBF super middleweight champion William Scull in May.
Who is William Scull?
William Scull is a Cuban-born boxer fighting out of Germany. The 32-year-old is 23-0 in his career with nine knockouts. In October 2024, Scull defeated Vladimir Shishkin to become the super middleweight IBF champion. It was a close contest, but Scull ultimately won the fight despite being significantly hurt in round 12, appearing to be on unstable legs. Still, he is now the IBF champion and a worthy contender for Canelo Alvarez.
Why this is good for Canelo's legacy
A fight with Scull will have all four super middleweight belts on the line for Saturday. Canelo vacated the IBF belt to fight Edgar Berlanga in September instead of facing mandatory IBF challenger William Scull. On May 3rd, Canelo will have the opportunity to become a 2X division undisputed champion and defeat his 20th boxing champion, closing on Manny Pacquiao (21) and Floyd Mayweather (23) for the most champions defeated in his coveted Hayabusa Pro Boxing Shoes.
Why it helps Canelo-Crawford
If and when Canelo defeats William Scull in May, this will set the stage for Canelo vs Crawford to be for undisputed at super middleweight. Crawford is a former two-division undisputed champion and has the ability to be the first-ever boxer to become a three-division undisputed champion. Undisputed status makes the already massive Canelo vs Crawford even bigger.
Another benefit of Scull being Canelo's opponent is that this is a fighter Canelo should realistically beat. Scull is a formidable opponent, but in his performance against Shishkin, he was forced to box off his back foot the entire night. Something that will be difficult to do against the consistently pressuring Canelo Alvarez. Scull also showed that he doesn't have a solid foundation as several shots from Shishkin wobbled him. Against a devastating body puncher like Canelo Alvarez, Scull may have a quick but painful night. Nonetheless, he doesn't appear to present a risk to the mega Canelo-Crawford fight in September, but you never know about boxing.
Conclusion
Canelo's four-fight deal with Riyadh Season includes three fights in Riyadh starting in May and two next year in 2026. Fortunately, September's fight with Crawford will be in the United States, a market where both fighters are more well known.
Canelo joined Riyadh Season despite a rocky start to his relationship with His Excellency Turki Alalshikh.
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