Canelo Alvarez was far from his best in Saudi Arabia and was held to a points victory by William Scull with both men shamed by an embarrassing CompuBox stat
In a record-setting bout, Canelo Alvarez and William Scull managed to throw the fewest number of punches ever recorded in a 12-round boxing fight.
Alvarez reclaimed his title as the undisputed super-middleweight world champion on Saturday night in Saudi Arabia, defeating Scull on points. The judges were unanimous in their decision, scoring the fight 115-113, 116-112, and 119-109 in favour of the Mexican, with only the widest scorecard truly reflecting the one-sided nature of the contest.
Scull’s reluctance to engage and the overall lack of action led to an embarrassing statistic being revealed post-fight. According to CompuBox, the fighters’ combined tally of 445 punches landed set a new low since records began, sliding past Deontay Wilder vs Joseph Parker (459) and Shannon Briggs vs Sultan Ibragimov (473).
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Despite the fight’s lacklustre pace, CompuBox reported that Scull actually landed more punches (293) than Alvarez (152) throughout the 36-minute encounter. Alvarez didn’t hold back in expressing his disappointment with Scull’s tactics, saying, “He came to survive until the 12th round,” and labelling the fight as boring due to Scull’s defensive approach.
“He didn’t try to win, he tried to survive. I hate those kind of fighters. He ran more than I thought but it’s OK, I am a two-time undisputed world champion and I am grateful.” Not resting on his laurels, Alvarez wasted no time in announcing his next challenge—a clash with two-weight undisputed champion Terence Crawford scheduled for September 12 in Las Vegas.
“I hope in September, Crawford comes to fight,” he shared. “Crawford is one of the best out there and I like to share the ring with that kind of fighter, it’s my pleasure. Everybody has been asking for the fight, my children wanted it so that’s why we are here.”
Crawford, who will be squaring off against Alvarez, chimed in: ” In September I am going to show the world what greatness looks like. He did what he had to do to get the job done, but I’m the best, that’s why everyone is going to come and watch on September 12.”
The two boxing titans are set to duke it out at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, choosing a Friday night for their bout to sidestep clashing with college football games on Saturday. Crawford, who’s moving up two weight divisions, hasn’t stepped into the ring since his victory over Israil Madrimov last August.
The American boxer held undisputed champion titles at super-lightweight and welterweight before stepping up to light-middleweight. Now, he’s gearing up for the most formidable challenge of his career as he faces off against Alvarez, who clinched a world title at light-heavyweight when he defeated Sergey Kovalev in 2019.
