Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez vs. William Scull - IBF Ordered

[Ruthless-RKO]

Canelo Ordered To Face Mandatory Challenger By IBF

The IBF has ordered undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs) to begin negotiations with their No. 1 rated contender, William Scull (22-0, 9 KOs), who has held the rating within the IBF for two years.

Scull, a Cuban who resides in Germany, turned professional in 2016 in Argentina and has fought out of Germany since 2019.

The Cuban featured on the undercard to Canelo’s successful title defense against compatriot Jaime Munguia (43-1, 34 KOs) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, winning a comfortable, unanimous decision.

Scull fought Sean Hemphill (16-2, 10 KOs) over a scheduled eight-rounds, dropping the American in the fifth.

Agon Sports, which promotes Scull, confirmed that the IBF had instructed Canelo to fulfill his mandatory obligations and face Scull via a post on their social media platforms.

“The IBF has ordered the fight between Canelo and William Scull. Both teams have four weeks to reach an agreement, or it will go to purse bid,” the promotional entity posted on X and Instagram.

The IBF’s decision to enforce its mandatory obligations will frustrate fight fans who are clamoring to see Alvarez face fellow Mexican and rival David Benavidez.

Benavidez has opted to move up to light heavyweight after Canelo said it would take an offer between “$150-200 Million” for him to face his WBC mandatory challenger.

The undisputed title holder has yet to defend his mantle against an IBF-mandated opponent. The last time an IBF mandatory challenger challenged for the sanctioning body’s 168lbs title was in 2021, when Caleb Traux challenged then-titleholder Caleb Plant.

Canelo’s last mandatory obligation came in May 2023, when he faced the WBO’s challenger John Ryder in a homecoming clash in Guadalajara, Mexico.

[gregregegg]

Well, guess the undisputed dream is over because can’t be wasting time on this nobody.

[tiny_acres]

Why has this taken this long? The IBF normally des not bend on time lines

[apollo creed]

Probably its a way of "forcing" Canelo to make the fight with Benavidez?

[Perseus]

The Canelo camp knew this was coming.
Scull fights on his undercard then shortly afterward the IBF says Canelo has to give him a title shot.
That's not a coincidence, it's a plan.
Canelo will face a mandatory in September and another one next May as demand for a fight with Benavidez grows then they will fight in September of 2025.

[jaouad]

Looks like Canelo is already getting a bs mandatory. Probably gets another one after this before retiring with a big fight in sep. 2025

[giacomino]

Scull as mandatory is

[ldlamb]

Well, this fight will never happen

[Ruthless-RKO]

IBF Orders Purse Bid for a Canelo Alvarez-William Scull Fight

Of all the fights that Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has to choose from, the IBF is digging in on forcing him to negotiate with its lightly regarded mandatory challenger, William Scull, going as far Monday as to order a June 6 purse bid meeting at its New Jersey offices.

In a Monday letter, IBF President Daryl Peoples wrote that undisputed super middleweight champion Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs) and Cuba’s Scull (22-0, 9 KOs) were ordered on May 13 to begin negotiations for Alvarez’s IBF title defense.

Nine days later, Scull representative Hagen Doering reported that an agreement “could not be reached,” according to Peoples’ letter, and he requested an immediate purse bid.

The IBF has ordered the purse bid for noon Eastern Time on June 6, informing promoters that bids are due by 11:45 a.m. that morning.

Scull, 31, who fought eight consecutive bouts in Germany before posting an eight-round unanimous decision win over little-known Sean Hemphill on the pre-pay-per-view undercard to Alvarez’s May 4 unanimous decision triumph over Jaime Munguia at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, is an opponent who pales in comparison to those Alvarez has been linked with for his next fight.

In fact, Peoples conceded to Boxing Scene on Monday that he’s still not absolutely certain that the IBF is first in line among the four sanctioning bodies for Alvarez’s next mandatory defense.

Earlier this month, WBA President Gilberto Mendoza told Boxing Scene that his unbeaten mandatory challenger, Edgar Berlanga, is first in line.

Alvarez prefers fighting on the weekends of Cinco de Mayo and Mexican Independence Day (mid-September), so the likely target date for a mandatory bout would be Sept. 14.

Peoples told BS he plans to contact Mendoza on Tuesday to firm up which body’s mandatory is next in the Canelo sweepstakes.

“I believe the IBF is next,” Peoples said in a text message.

If he’s mistaken, there has been additional speculation that a Berlanga fight makes more sense to take place in New York, not Las Vegas, in consideration of Berlanga’s Brooklyn roots.

Additionally, Saudi Arabian boxing power broker Turki Alalshikh has spoken of Alvarez meeting unbeaten three-division champion Terence Crawford should Crawford claim a fourth division belt Aug. 3 when he meets WBA junior middleweight titleholder Israil Madrimov in Los Angeles.

An Alvarez-Crawford bout could take place in December or January.

Of course, the prized opponent for Alvarez is unbeaten former super middleweight titleholder David Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs), who will meet former light heavyweight titleholder Oleksandr Gvozdyk in a 175-pound co-main event June 15 in support of the Gervonta “Tank” Davis-Frank Martin WBA lightweight title fight at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

[apollo creed]

Canelo is the golden-goose of boxing. He already achieved his dream to unify the smw division. He would probably drop that IBF title and move on. He is bigger than those titles and everybody knows that.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Cameron will carve the belt. Thus no longer being the undisputed champion.

However we know he’s the 168 king.

[apollo creed]

Canelo is the golden-goose of boxing. He already achieved his dream to unify the smw division. He would probably drop that IBF title and move on. He is bigger than those titles and everybody knows that.

Ohh man, I was right, of course it was so obvious.

[Ruthless-RKO]

CANELO ALVAREZ-WILLIAM SCULL IBF PURSE BID DELAYED BY ONE WEEK

Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez will have another week to reach terms with his mandatory challenger.

The Ring has confirmed that a purse bid for Alvarez’s ordered title defense versus William Scull was pushed back to June 13. A hearing scheduled for Thursday is no longer on the calendar after both sides were granted a seven-day extension.

IBF president Daryl Peoples contacted all registered promoters in an official letter obtained by The Ring.

“Please be advised that the Saul Alvarez vs. William Scull purse bid scheduled for Thursday, June 6 has been postponed for one week,” said Peoples. “The purse bid is now scheduled for Thursday, June 13, 2023 at 12:00 EST.”

The fight was ordered on May 13 but the negotiation period was brought to a halt after just nine days. AGON Sports & Events—Scull’s promoter—informed the IBF of the failed talks between camps and requested an immediate purse bid. IBF rules state that either party can call for a purse bid at any time during negotiations.

It is undetermined whether the extra seven days will be used to further negotiate, or if Alvarez is merely buying time.

For now, Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 knockouts), The Ring champion at 168, is obliged to honor the ordered fight.

IBF rules state that neither party can enter another fight once a fight is called by the sanctioning body. Ranked contenders who refuse to move forward are dropped below the top ten and ineligible to participate in IBF-sanctioned fights for at least six months.

The penalty is much stiffer for defending titlists.

IBF rule 5.c requires its champions to honor ordered mandatory title fights. Failure to honor the order “will be sufficient cause to have the Championships Committee and Board of Directors consider withdrawing recognition of the title.”

Alvarez has yet to make a mandatory defense for the WBA or IBF titles. He was actually the mandatory as the secondary WBA titleholder when he faced and defeated Callum Smith in their Dec. 2020 WBA title consolidation bout.

One month later, Caleb Plant (22-2, 13 KOs) honored his IBF mandatory title defense in a Jan. 2021 win over Caleb Truax.

Alvarez defeated Plant via eleventh-round knockout in their Nov. 2021 undisputed showdown in Las Vegas.

Brooklyn’s Edgar Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) was named the WBA mandatory challenger in April. It was believed that the Nuyorican would be next in line for the 168-pound crown. Those rumors intensified after Alvarez’s May 4 win over Jaime Munguia at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The actions taken by the IBF—and the absence of any movement from the WBA—has sorted out that rotation question.

Alvarez has made the most successful defenses among any male undisputed champion in the four-belt era (four). That feat came in large part to the sanctioning bodies generally not enforcing their rules as they have with its other champions.

Scull (22-0, 9 KOs) became the mandatory challenger after a July 2022 points win over Evgeny Shvedenko. The title eliminator between unbeaten contenders saw Scull—a Cuban export based in Berlin—win a lopsided unanimous decision.

Just three fights have followed for the 31-year-old. The most recent came in an eight-round victory over Sean Hemphill on May 4 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The fight took place on the non-televised undercard portion of Alvarez-Munguia.

Per IBF Rule 10.E, the winning bid will be split 65-35 in favor of Alvarez as the defending champ.

[Lackeos]

William Scull, also known well by his boxing alias "Who?" If not Benavidez, Alvarez's mandatory should be someone like Mbilli (IBF #3), Morrell (unranked by IBF), or Berlanga (IBF #4). Ranking Scull at #1 in the IBF is just malpractice of the ranking system. What did he do, beat Sebastian Papeschi?

[Ruthless-RKO]

Canelo Alvarez 'Reached An Agreement' with William Scull, According To AGON Sports

AGON Sports, promoters of super middleweight contender William Scull, today claimed that their charge had reached an agreement with Saul Canelo Alvarez but it is still unclear if he's the Mexican's next opponent.

Scull, 22-0 (9 KOs), is the leading contender at 168 pounds according to the IBF and it is that organization's 'turn' to enforce their mandatory on the undisputed champion.

Regardless, with David Benavidez triggering his right for a shot at Canelo by virtue of being the WBC's leading man at super middle, confirmation of Alvarez-Scull wouldn't be music to the ears of fight fans.

However, it remains to be seen if the 'agreement' is a fight date or a step aside deal, which means that Scull will be compensated while Alvarez engages in another bout in the interim.

"I want to show the people that I am his [mandatory] IBF challenger for a reason," Scull said last week. "I am not just coming for a payday, I am coming for all the belts."

Scull is not ranked in the top 15 by any of the other sanctioning bodies nor can The Ring or TBRB find a place for him in their top 10. This can be explained by the Germany-based Cuban not yet fighting a world class opponent.

The IBF put Alvarez-Scull out to purse bids which were initially postponed last week with view to both parties coming to an agreement. "Tom Brown asked us again for a postponement and more time," AGON's Ingo Volckmann said on June 13. "I agreed to this, as the talks had been good so far."

According to the same promoters, those IBF purse bids have now been cancelled after an agreement was reached with TGB, on behalf of PBC and Alvarez.

It is thought that Alvarez, 61-2-2 (39 KOs), will confirm details in due course.

[Cent0089]

I think it will be Canelo - Berlanga with Scull fighting on undercard

[joshj909]

Apparently Eubank is now the frontrunner according to ESPN Mexico

[Sendo Takeshi]

Eubank the frontrunner to fight for the undisputed title, what a joke.