IF Canelo thought he would slide away from the William Scull debacle in Riyadh with little to no criticism, the Mexican maestro must think again. Even signing a fight with Terence Crawford in September has not mellowed the scathing responses.
Canelo was stripped of the IBF super-middleweight title, and it found its way into the hands of Cuba’s Scull. Even though he won back the belt and became undisputed king for a second time at 168, the fight was a dire display. Scull hasn’t got off lightly either for his 36 minutes of back-foot boxing.
Canelo acknowledged in the post-fight interview that the fight had been less than impressive and proceeded to blame Scull for his negative moves. However, as the A side attraction and pound-for-pound star, the burden lay with Canelo to force Scull out of his comfort zone.
The Jalisco native has gone the 12-round distance in his last seven fights (including a loss to Dmitry Bivol). The last time he ended matters inside the distance was a 2021 stoppage of Caleb Plant.
Entering as the reigning IBF champion at the time, just like William Scull, Caleb Plant did not give up his title without resistence. That led to his downfall, but the Tennessee mover has zero regrets.
Plant’s admission was well received on social media, with many agreeing that his forward-thinking intentions earned respect. Scull did not get stopped, but he never put himself into a position to receive clean-cut punishment, either. Canelo was also happy going through the motions before moving on to a fight with ‘Bud’ Crawford in Las Vegas.
