Will Canelo face IBF mandatory William Scull?
The International Boxing Federation gives Álvarez 28 days to negotiate a bout with their mandatory challenger, Cuba’s William Scull, but will Canelo listen?
Canelo Álvarez is the undisputed king of boxing. Forget super middleweight. He reigns supreme over all boxers and all weight classes. In case it wasn’t clear at the time, Canelo was in fact being crowned as the heir apparent to Floyd Mayweather when the two faced back in 2013. And now that Floyd is retired, Canelo reigns. And for the same reason: money.
No boxer in any weight class commands the kind of money that does Canelo Álvarez. Love him or hate him, everyone wants to watch his fights.
With this kind of position, Canelo has his pick of suitors. Any boxer who faces him, even at only an 80-20 split, would get the payout of his career. The kind of money that one could retire on. And so, they all want to face him.
While fight fans have been screaming for Canelo to face David Benavidez for over a year now, the Mexican king has said that he will not do it for less than $200 million.
Now, after beating Jaime Munguía on Cinco de Mayo weekend, the IBF has ordered Canelo to make a fight with William Scull. The Cuban is 22-0-0 with 9 knockouts and fought on that Cinco de Mayo undercard, getting a unanimous decision over American Sean Hemphill after dropping him in the fifth. The two sides have 28 days to reach an agreement or it will go to purse bids.
Canelo Álvarez is the undisputed super middleweight champion, holding all four major belts at the weight. Each organization will have their own mandatory challenger and can either force the fight, agree to waive the mandatory in favor of another fight, or strip the title from Canelo and declare it vacant.
Another option is for the mandatory challenger to be paid to step aside, as happened when Jermell Charlo paid Bakhram Murtazaliev to take a step back. If Scull doesn’t agree to that sort of thing, then he may force the issue.
Canelo has yet to defend his title against an IBF mandatory. His last two fights have been WBO mandatory challengers in John Ryder and Jaime Munguia. The WBC ordered a fight to be made with David Benavídez over a year ago, something that Canelo has said that he will only do for a guaranteed $200 million payout.
Last month, the WBA named Edgar Berlanga as their mandatory. Canelo now has a choice between Benavidez, Berlanga, and Scull if he wants to keep all of his titles in his hands. Neither Berlanga nor Scull have any monetary value for such a big fight and while Benavidez is the money fight, it seems that the money is not yet big enough for Canelo to take such a huge risk.
But Canelo himself is clear on the subject. He has said unequivocally that he is the king and as such he decides who he will face. By way of confirmation, the elder king has echoed his sentiments as Floyd Mayweather has come out in support of Canelo’s position. After the win against Munguía, Canelo said that he has toyed around with the idea of facing Terence Crawford in Saudi Arabia at the beginning of 2025, but as of today, he has three mandatories waiting in the wings.