Canelo vs Scull - Jake Paul, Oscar De La Hoya, and other major boxing names react to undisputed clash

Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez became the undisputed super middleweight champion again on Saturday by defeating William Scull by unanimous decision in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The Mexican, now 63-2-2 (39), after defeating the Cuban, will look to have his next fight in September against the undefeated Terence Crawford, 41-0 (31)), his big rival in the pound-for-pound stakes.

The immediate reaction across the boxing industry to Canelo’s defeat of Scull, however, was mixed.

Terence Crawford  

Canelo’s next opponent was ringside for the fight and the two faced-off in the ring to confirm their fight in September. But the man from Omaha kept his cards close to his chest in regard to his analysis of the fight. Crawford gave Scull credit for his movement but did not believe that is how to beat the Mexican. 

 “William was doing a good job of neutralising Canelo’s power punches,” Crawford explained to Fight Hub TV. “He was just moving a lot,”

“If you watch the styles that beat [Canelo],” he added. “They don’t move a lot; they move a little bit - but not as much as William Scull.”

Dmitry Bivol

As one of only two men to ever beat the undisputed super-middleweight champion, Bivol offered his thoughts on the fight. He was disappointed in what he saw from Scull, believing he was not there to win. 

“It’s not interesting to see the fight when one person doesn’t want to win. Doesn’t want to win at all,” Bivol told Fight Hub TV. “It was a hard fight for Canelo because he was always aiming. Scull didn’t throw punches and it’s hard to catch him, you know? He’s just moving. But his movement is good.”

Amir Khan 

Khan, who was also at the fight, gave his thoughts to Fight Hub TV. The former super-lightweight champion, who suffered a knockout loss to Alvarez in 2016, thought the fight was close. He even gave the edge the Scull on his own scorecard. 

“It wasn’t the prettiest and it could have gone either way,” said Khan. “Because I probably had Scull winning by two rounds. I like Canelo, I think he’s a great fighter, and I think he was picking the shots better and landing the cleaner shots. Canelo was marked up a little bit – but, look, it could’ve gone either way.”

Scull’s promoter - Ingo Volckmann

The AGON boss and promoter, offered support to his fighter in a press release after the fight, saying Scull put on a world class performance and stuck to the gameplan. 

“William proved today that he belongs among the world’s elite,” he said. “He outdid himself, largely neutralised one of the biggest names in boxing, and earned global respect in my opinion. Our strategy worked from the beginning. He made Canelo miss repeatedly and frustrated him. William should have done more in the later rounds, but we’ll all learn from that. Still, it was a fantastic performance we’ll continue to build on.”

Oscar De La Hoya

De La Hoya, chimed in from the Bahamas, not missing the opportunity to criticise the former Golden Boy fighter. The two have been feuding since Canelo’s departure from the promotion in 2020. 

“Canelo, Jesus Lord, come on,” De La Hoya said on his Instagram. “You're getting paid all this money to fight against the runner who we all knew was going to run - a Cuban style. You chose him and now you say you hate fighting runners – well, then don’t fight runners.”

Jake Paul 

The YouTuber-turned-boxer was once rumoured to have negotiated a fight with Canelo but is now scheduled to fight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in June. Paul gave a single-word indictment of the undisputed showdown on X. 

“Embarrassing,” he said.

Claressa Shields

One of the greatest female boxers of all time, Shields expressed her frustrations at the perceived lack of action in the fight on X. 

“I’m tired of fighters of being on the bike and I’m tired of the other fighters not knowing how to cut the ring off.”

Carl Froch

‘The Cobra’, weighed in on his YouTube channel, calling out Scull for not rising to the occasion and giving everything to try and become the undisputed supermiddleweight champion - labelling it “not acceptable”.

“If I'm in there with Canelo for whatever amount of money," Froch explained. "There's going to come a point where I'm saying, ‘Right, I'm going for it now.’ Probably around three or four I'm going to stick it on him and have a go. To be given an opportunity like that - Skull defending his IBF title and potentially becoming undisputed. To go in there and just perform like that, for me, it's not acceptable.”

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