Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez vs William Scull Preview May 3rd, 2025
WBO/WBA/WBC and Ring Magazine Super Middleweight Champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez returns to the ring this Saturday, May 3rd to take on unbeaten IBF Champion William Scull of Cuba. The 12-rounder from Saudi Arabia can be seen live in most nations DAZN pay-per-view. Alvarez last saw action in September when he beat Edgar Berlanga by a 12-round unanimous decision after dropping him in round three. Scull’s last fight was in October when he downed Vladimir Shishkin via a unanimous decision to win the IBF Belt.
Alvarez vs Scull Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- William Scull +1400
- Saul Alvarez -4000
My Pick
The 34-year-old Alvarez has beaten Caleb Plant, Callum Smith and Billy Joe Saunders for his latest collection of Super Middleweight Titles since 2020 and also defended various belts against Berlanga, Jaime Munguia, Jermell Charlo, John Ryder, Gennady Golovkin and Avni Ylidirim during that span. And let’s not forget his lopsided unanimous decision loss to Dmitry Bivol in May, 2022 in an attempt at a light heavyweight crown. He’s also beaten the likes of Rocky Fielding, Daniel Jacobs and Sergey Kovalev in the past five years.
Alvarez owns a 62-2-2 record with 39 Ko’s with his only other defeat being a majority decision to Floyd Mayweather in September, 2013. His two draws were a highly-disputed 12-round affair with Golovkin in the first meeting of their trilogy in 2017 as well as a four-round battle against Jorge Juarez back in 2006. Alvarez stands 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 70.5 inch and has a wealth of experience under his belt as he turned pro in 2005 when he was just 15 years old has 508 rounds in the bank since then.
He’s taken on and beaten several other tough opponents and world champions over the years such as Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Amir Khan, Miguel Cotto, James Kirkland, Austin Trout, Erislandy Lara, Shane Mosley, Josesito Lopez, Kermit Cintron, Carlos Baldomir, and Alfredo Angulo. He’s also held world titles in the junior. middleweight, middleweight and light heavyweight divisions as well as minor belts as a welterweight.
Alvarez has good power as 62.9 per cent of his wins have been by stoppage but he’s gone the distance in his last six fights and in eight of his past 16. He also possesses a granite chin and quick hands. Bivol, Plant, Golovkin, Mayweather, Lara and Khan to some degree, showed that Canelo can be outboxed in stages as he has difficulty handling a quick, stiff jab and fluid movement. Even so, Alvarez is an above-average boxer-puncher who likes to go to the body but has a bit of difficulty with opponents who are mobile.
The 32-year-Scull fights out of Germany and makes the ring walk with a perfect mark of 23-0 with 9 Ko’s and has boxed 144 rounds since making his pro debut following a short amateur career back in 2016. He measures just under 6-feet-tall and reportedly has a 73-inch reach for a 3.5-inch edge in height on Alvarez as well as 2.5-inches in reach. Scull lacks power as his current knockout ratio clocks in at just 39.1 per cent and he’s gone the distance in his past five fights with his last stoppage win coming in November, 2021 when he halted Deneb Diaz in the second round for the IBF Latino Super Middleweight Crown.
Scull captured the South American Super Middleweight Crown in 2019 when he stopped Sebastian Horacio Papeschi in the sixth round. He then won the vacant IBO International Super Middleweight Title in 2021 via a unanimous decision over Gino Kanters. He’s taking a gigantic leap up in class this weekend against Alvarez as his toughest opponents so far have been Shishkin, Sean Hemphill, Cristian Fabio Rios, Evgeny Shvedenko, Dragan Lepei and Mathias Eklund.
Prediction…
Alvarez once fought the top names of his divisions but lately he has been selecting Grade B opponents instead of Grade A foes such as David Benavidez or he’s chosen to fight boxers from other weight classes or those who have been somewhat inactive. Basically, he has been accused of cherry picking and it’s hard to argue against that point with this fight against Scull. Yes it’s true that Scull is a world champion, but Alvarez seems to always choose the path of least resistance in most of his fights unless it’s for an astronomical payday. This is another in a long line of Alvarez fights that nobody really wants to see and many fans are starting to get tired of it. Scull brings skill to the ring but no power. He’s never fought a true world contender and doesn’t have the experience and power needed to win here. He has no puncher’s chance so will need to box the fight of his life to earn a win and that’s highly unlikely. The odds show how one-sided this fight is viewed by the bookmakers so the only bets worth making are on Scull, how the fight will and and/or in what round.
Scull lacks the experience and power needed to beat Alvarez.
Play: Alvarez -4000 @ BetOnline.ag
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Saul Alvarez betting • William Scull betting