Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez is boxing to reunite the major super middleweight titles when he faces William Scull in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) is the WBC, WBA. IBF and Ring Magazine champion at 168 pounds. He vacated the IBF belt before his fight with Edgar Berlanga last September.
Scull (23-0, 9 KOs) outlasted the previously undefeated Vladimir Shishkin in his adopted homeland of Germany last October and now gets his shot at the main man.
This is Canelo’s first fight since aligning himself with Riyadh Season, with the clear imperative from Turki Alalshikh to become the undisputed champion once again to underpin some pending superfights.
Here are three sharply contrasting but hugely lucrative options for the Mexican fighting icon.
WATCH: Canelo Alvarez vs. William Scull on DAZN
When this fight was first floated a couple of years ago and former undisputed super lightweight champion Crawford had never campaigned above welterweight, it felt somewhere between fanciful and nonsensical.
But the masterful American topped the bill at Riyadh Season’s maiden US show in Las Vegas last August, beating Israil Madrimov in a competitive fight at 154 pounds. That leaves a couple of divisions still to surf but Crawford clearly wants the work and the chance to become an unprecedented three-weight undisputed champion.
Despite plenty of indications that Crawford is ready to be Alvarez’s next opponent, if ‘Bud’ wants a little more time to acclimatise to the heavier weight classes, a blockbuster showdown with Eubank Jr. at a packed Wembley Stadium would be a pretty handy alternative.
Eubank has been spoken about as a potential dance partner for Canelo for years and his stock has never been higher since his thrilling generational grudge-match victory over Conor Benn. The 35-year-old’s struggles to boil down to the middleweight limit were well-documented during the build-up and if Eubank decides to move up to 168 pounds then the Canelo fight feels natural.
Canelo Alvarez vs. Jake Paul
From boxing purists to your average fans of self-respect and dignity, plenty will howl “please. God, no!” at this. But we have to be realistic. There are various claims and counter-claims over how advanced discussions were for Canelo to fight YouTuber Paul before he took the Scull fight, but the lines of communication are clearly open.
This fight makes at least as much money as bouts with Crawford or Eubank, very possibly more. And, of course, Canelo would win it at a canter using one hand if he wanted to. It’s a sign of the times that such a fight is viable and must be considered part of the conversation. Paul faces former Canelo foe Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in June and it’s not particularly hard to see why this route appeals to him.
