William Scull issued his first post-fight remarks after a loss to boxing superstar Canelo Alvarez on Saturday night.
William Scull suffered the first professional loss of his boxing career to Canelo Alvarez on Saturday night after an unbeaten run through 23 professional fights. It was a closely-contested battle from start to finish, albeit with some arguably less-than-entertaining moments between the two fighters.
Alvarez outpointed Scull by unanimous decision to retain his belts and look ahead to the Terence Crawford super fight later this year. Alvarez has won six fights in a row since a loss to Dmitry Bivol in May 2022.
After the fight, Scull admitted he expected to get his hand raised after the fight with Alvarez, despite landing at a significantly less efficient margin.
William Scull believes he was robbed of a win vs. Canelo Alvarez
During a recent interview with FightHubTV, Scull explained why he feels he deserved the nod on the judges’ scorecards.
“Yes, I totally felt like I had won,” Scull said. “After the fifth round, I was already winning the fight. That’s why I kept up the work I was doing, because honestly, if he’s not hitting me, why would I risk it?
“[The criticism was] that I was moving and throwing a few counters, but my counters were effective,” Scull continued. “Canelo deserves my respect, but he threw less than me, and was less effective than me.” (h/t BJPenn)
Scull secured the Alvarez showdown by winning the IBF super middleweight title over William Shishkin in October. The 32-year-old earned recent wins over Sean Hemphill, Cristian Fabian Ramos, and Evgeny Shvedenko inside the ring.
The sluggish pace of Scull vs. Alvarez added to what was an underwhelming weekend of boxing. Just hours before, Ryan Garcia and Rolly Romero headlined a Fatal Fury card that featured slow-paced matchups, including Devin Haney‘s win over Jose Ramirez.
Canelo Alvarez turns his attention to Terence Crawford showdown
After outpointing Scull, Alvarez will turn his full-time attention towards a clash with Crawford in September, which was formally announced last weekend. It’ll take place on September 12th at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Crawford and Alvarez shared a face-to-face after the Scull fight, fueling the hype for the upcoming headliner. Crawford will make a big step up in weight to face Alvarez in one of the most anticipated boxing matches in recent years.
Alvarez is off to a great start to his Riyadh Season contract with Turki Alalshikh and will look to earn another statement win over Crawford later this year. A victory could open the door to other top-tier bouts with the likes of David Benavidez and a possible rematch against Dmitry Bivol.