Unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez will take a stay-sharp fight against Christian Mbilli or IBF champ William Scull in May to help stay ready for September.
Canelo’s long-time trainer/manager, Eddy Reynoso, told @BoxAzteca7 that Scull (23-0, 9 KOs) and Mbilli (28-0, 23 KOs) are the two candidates to be picked for May.
Why Mbilli? / Why Scull?
Mbilli would be Alvarez’s far more difficult opponent due to his power, high work rate, and nonstop aggression. He would be like a smaller, more compact version of David Benavidez, and he would be attacking Canelo nonstop.
It would be an absolute nightmare for Alarez to fight Mbilli, but it would be a fun, competitive fight to watch while it lasts. You couldn’t rule out a win for Mbilli, and it wouldn’t be a huge upset at this point in Canelo’s career. His stamina is so bad now, and he looks too bulked up for his small 5’8″ frame.
Neither of these two fighters will attract much fan interest from Canelo’s followers worldwide, but there’s not much to choose from at 168 any longer. Canelo, 34, has beaten all the interesting contenders now that David Morrell and David Benavidez are no longer in weight class.
The Cuba-born Scull off a questionable 12-round unanimous decision win over Vladimir Shishkin on October 19th in Stadthalle, Falkensee, Germany. Scull didn’t show much power or talent in that fight and was lucky to be given a win. Many boxing fans felt that Shishkin should have won.
Scull’s lack of punching power will be problematic if he lands the Canelo fight because he’s too weak to compete. However, he has good skills and might be able to steal later rounds against Alvarez, as Edgar Berlanga did in the Mexican superstar’s last fight on September 14th.
In the first half, the fight was one-sided, with Canelo totally dominating the inexperienced Berlanga. But in the second half, Alvarez faded badly, allowing Berlanga to come on and enjoy some success.
Canelo must stay busy preparing for a title defense against boxer/puncher Terence Crawford in September. Staying sharp is essential for Canelo because Crawford is a high-level fighter with speed, counterpunching ability, and mobility.
Crawford’s Wait
Interestingly, Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) will choose to sit and wait until September and will take the risk of going into the Canelo fight after a year out of the ring. However, Crawford has been fighting once a year since 2020, and it’s not affected him. He wasn’t fighting cutting-edge opposition, and that obviously helped.
Crawford has fought one good fighter since 2020, Israil Madrimov, and had a tough time beating him last August. The 37-year-old didn’t look good against Madrimov, which isn’t surprising due to his one-year layoff and weak resume in the last six years.
Some believe that Terence’s decision to sit without fighting a tuneup before September signals that he’s cashing out against Canelo, using the fight as a ‘golden parachute‘ retirement money the way CEOs are often given when they leave companies.
That’s bad for fans who will pay their hard-earned money to watch the Canelo-Crawford mismatch will feel stupid afterward, thinking they got rooked.
To avoid this, Turki Al-Sheikh should insist that Crawford prove himself against one top-flight super middleweight contender before giving him his golden handshake retirement fight against Alvarez.
It would be a real solid if Turki told Crawford that he must beat one of these fighters to earn his payday against Canelo:
David Morrell
Christian Mbilli
David Benavidez
Janibek Alimkhanuly
Bakhram Murtazaliev
Caleb Plant
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