How William Scull's negotiating gamble to land Canelo Alvarez yielded a life-changing payday

There reached a point when William Scull chose to focus only on what he could control.

The unbeaten Cuban was tired of the back-and-forth on whether he’d land a long-sought — and mandatory, at one point — shot at Saul "Canelo" Alvarez. He’d already gone through an exhausting round of talks last summer as the IBF’s top challenger, only to learn he would fight for a vacant super middleweight title instead of the undisputed championship.

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History threatened to repeat itself earlier this year, at which point the reigning IBF titleholder was prepared to wash his hands of the matter altogether.

“As Canelo had previously vacated the title and didn't want to fight me, I wasn't so sure anymore,” Scull told Uncrowned. “The whole back and forth started when I was a mandatory, and Canelo still had the IBF title, because at that time there were already first talks between our teams.

“There was different news every week. At some point I didn't even bother with it anymore.”

That mentality eventually paid off for Scull (23-0, 9 KOs), whose team — including promoter AGON Sports — perfectly played the hand it was dealt.

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A contingency plan was in place if Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs), No. 7 on Uncrowned’s male pound-for-pound list, opted for another opponent this weekend. It wasn’t necessary, as the Mexican icon and his backers — namely Turki Alalshikh and the team behind Riyadh Season — opened the vault to secure the undisputed championship clash.

Alvarez and Scull will meet for all four major super middleweight titles and The Ring championship on DAZN pay-per-view Saturday, beginning at 7 p.m. ET from ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

It’s a dream come true for Scull, though an opportunity he could hardly fathom when he first fled Cuba. He was joined at the time by Franquis Aldama, his amateur boxing coach who remains the lead voice in his corner as the two made their way to Argentina, where Scull turned pro in 2016.

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Ten of Scull’s first 12 pro fights took place in Argentina before the two permanently relocated to Berlin. It remains his home as he's has spent the past seven years under promoter Ingo Volckmann’s AGON Sports banner.

“I knew that we needed a big promotion to take the next step on the international stage,” said Scull, who boasts roughly 300 amateur fights, though he didn't garner as much notoriety as his other gifted countrymen. “AGON Sports was a new promotion from Germany that had big ambitions and was well positioned.

“As you can see, we grew together with the promotion, and it turned out to be the right move.”

The union led to Scull’s first title haul and now a shot to become undisputed champion — and with a life-changing payday for the occasion. But years of obscurity nearly cost him the opportunity, as was the case when Alvarez passed on the chance to face him last fall.

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“I've made my career in countries where it's difficult to gain popularity as a foreigner with boxing,” acknowledged Scull. “I think my popularity was too small, and therefore I wasn't interesting enough for Canelo when I had mandatory status.

“Winning the IBF title changed that, and now I'm on the world stage, and I'm very grateful for that.”

Still, there was a period when Alvarez and Alalshikh were prepared to move in a different direction. AGON Sports held out for as much money as it felt it was worth for Alvarez to vie for the chance to become a two-time fully unified super middleweight king.

That status is crucial, as a win is expected to lead to a September superfight between Alvarez and four-division titlist Terence "Bud" Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs), Uncrowned’s No. 2 pound-for-pound male boxer. A major selling point in that fight is Crawford’s quest to become undisputed champ at three weights, having already done so at junior welterweight and welterweight.

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That gave Scull the necessary leverage he didn’t carry as the IBF’s top contender last fall.

Alvarez was pressed with two mandatory title defenses from which to choose after his 12-round unanimous decision victory over countryman Jaime Munguia. One was Scull; the other was WBA No. 1 contender Edgar Berlanga, unbeaten at the time and the far more recognizable name.

The fact that Scull appeared on the Alvarez-Munguia undercard — an eight-round win over Sean Hemphill in an untelevised bout — provided a glimmer of hope his number would be called.

Alvarez-Berlanga, however, was a considerably more attractive matchup to Premier Boxing Champions, which presented their championship fight through Prime Video pay-per-view last September in Las Vegas.

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The decision cost Alvarez his undisputed championship status, which he had held since a November 2021 knockout win over Caleb Plant, as he was required to give up the IBF belt. Scull was able to fight for the vacant title versus Vladimir Shishkin, an unbeaten contender at the time.

The payout for Scull's first title opportunity, however, was a fraction of what he would have made had Alvarez honored the IBF order. The upside was that his team secured a home event for the occasion last October. AGON Sports controlled the rights to the fight and staged it in Falkansee, Germany, less than an hour from Berlin.

After 12 uneventful rounds, Scull claimed a unanimous decision and the belt. What he didn’t gain that night was any new fans; if anything, the dull affair and the disputed outcome left the 32-year-old with more detractors than critics.

That ultimately didn’t matter once Alvarez was back on the hunt for a May opponent.

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At one point, Alvarez was prepared to face social-media influencer and aspiring cruiserweight Jake Paul. He used the novelty fight as leverage, however, to increase his asking price while in talks with Alalshikh and Riyadh Season.

It worked. Alvarez’s once discussed three-fight deal became a lucrative four-fight pact. Rather than face Paul in Las Vegas, Alvarez agreed to headline a show in Riyadh.

Scull was conspicuously not on a publicly leaked suggested list of potential foes. It was an attempt on the part of the Riyadh Season group to get the boxer and his team to move off their hefty seven-figure purse demand.

AGON secured a backup plan — a voluntary title defense in Germany — just in case its negotiating gamble didn’t pay off.

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But it did.

“I always tried to be ready for a possible fight against Canelo,” Scull said. “The rest was taken care of by my promoter, Ingo Volckmann, who then just told me, ‘Now it's time.’”

That said, there is a big difference between staying gym-ready and preparing for what will likely serve as the biggest opportunity of his career.

Not only did Scull and his team game plan for a legendary Hall of Fame-level fighter in Alvarez, but there is also the unique start time for this weekend’s event. The Riyadh Season headliner will air early Sunday morning local time, to align with the prime-time showing in the U.S. to maximize viewership.

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It meant a major shift in training habits for Scull. Overnight and early morning sessions have become the norm, while Scull barely touched his cellphone for the past three months.

“We took this preparation much more seriously than against Shishkin,” Scull said. “For example, we did an altitude training camp in the Sierra Nevada in Granada, Spain. We also brought in the best athletic trainers, physiotherapists and doctors from Argentina and Spain to help us prepare. We doubled the number of sparring partners and the level of the sparring partners was significantly higher than before.

“We train every session just before the sun rises and the whole team has also adapted to the rhythm, for which I am very grateful. Everyone in the team [came] to every session, no matter what time it is. Whether it's our promoter, Ingo Volckmann, our media team, sponsors or the physios and doctors. It's incredible what my team has achieved and how they have significantly improved my performance.”

The oddsmakers aren’t quite as convinced. Alvarez remains a healthy -3000 betting favorite on BetMGM sportsbook.

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Simply put, a Scull win would easily rank as the year’s leading contender — if not runaway favorite — for Upset of the Year.

Yet as long as the pursuit was to land this fight — after the uncertainty of whether it would ever come to fruition — Scull wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Apart from the birth of my two children, winning the world title against Shishkin was of course the greatest moment in my life,” he said. “Winning on May 3 would of course top that, because it's the best feeling to make history for your people and your family.”