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Canelo Alvarez, the 34-year-old Mexican boxer, has faced criticism for his recent avoidance of certain opponents and his lackluster performance in his May bout against William Scull. This, despite his status as a pound-for-pound best fighter in boxing and his impressive undisputed champion status at 168 pounds. Alvarez’s reputation has taken a hit, and the way he handles his upcoming fights will affect his standing in the sport.
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At 34, Canelo Alvarez remains one of the pound-for-pound best fighters in boxing after reacquiring undisputed champion status last weekend at 168 pounds. But to say the Mexican superstar is trending in the right direction of late, as it pertains to the court of public opinion, would be an entirely different conversation.
Alvarez (63-2-2, 39 KOs) has already been under a great deal of fire for his outright refusal to face two-time champion and unbeaten slugger David Benavidez after a series of excuses from Alvarez (and outright enabling from the sport’s sanctioning bodies) led to Benavidez moving up in weight after refusing to sit around. It was Alvarez’s return on May 3, however, that brought an even more immense amount of scrutiny in his direction.
After swerving YouTube influencer Jake Paul in the 11th hour to sign a four-fight deal with powerful adviser Turki Alalshikh earlier this year, Alvarez made his fighting debut on Saudi Arabia on May 3 in a Cinco de Mayo matchup against IBF titleholder William Scull that only came to be because Alvarez had refused to face the obscure mandatory challenger in late 2024 and was stripped of one of his four 168-pound world titles.
Not only did the matchup fail to create any buzz after Alvarez was installed as high as a 40-to-1 betting favorite, the fight itself ended up in the history books for all of the wrong reasons after Scull (23-1, 9 KOs) refused to do anything but circle away and the frustrated Alvarez eventually gave up trying to chase him down.
The fight, which was contested at 6 a.m. local in Riyadh in front of just 4,000 fans so it could be broadcast in prime time back in Mexico and the United States, broke a CompuBox record for the fewest combined punches over 12 rounds. Even worse, Alvarez set an individual record for futility in the same fight by attempting the least amount of punches in any 12-found bout ever tracked by the punch-tracking system that debuted in 1985.
This wasn’t the first time Alvarez faced a defensive-first boxer throughout his legendary career. But unlike earlier performances in title fights against the likes of Austin Trout or Erislandy Lara, this version of Alvarez couldn’t be bothered to do much more than complain after unsuccessfully attempting to cut off the ring and hurt Scull for the majority of the rounds.
After the fight, Alvarez continued his campaign against the hand-picked Scull by saying he hates fighting boxers with that style who don’t engage. It was a comment that was met with nothing but irony by Alvarez’s growing legion of critics who pointed out just how willing Benavidez is to fight in the Mexican style that Alvarez prefers.
Alvarez turned professional at the age of 15, all the way back in 2005, and has delivered a first-ballot HOF resumé through an incredible 67 fights. But it’s hard to hear anyone in 2025 talk about him without referencing either his slowly fading skill set or — even worse — how little he appears to want to match himself tough moving forward.
Ever since a 2022 loss to light heavyweight king Dmitry Bivol, Alvarez has paired himself against a combination of undersized, past-their-prime or limited opponents after spending the previous decade establishing his legacy as that of an ambitious boxer who was willing to take on difficult challenges for even bigger purses.
Sure, it can be explained that the selection of Scull as his May opponent was only so Alvarez could once again unify the four super middleweight world titles, thus making his September showdown against Terence Crawford even bigger as it gives Crawford, who will be moving up multiple weight divisions, the chance to become the first undisputed champion in three different weight classes during the four-belt era. But it doesn’t mean Alvarez did himself any favors by the uninspired way in which he navigated a fight that was already so void of excitement.
The Crawford fight will undoubtedly be a big one, not just because it will take place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas (likely on Netflix) but because it also signifies UFC president Dana White’s move into boxing through TKO, which Alalshikh has agreed to financially back in the hopes of launching a new and exclusive league. But it’s also a continuous step away from Alvarez fighting the best remaining opponents his own size and needs to be factored in when giving an honest grade as to where he still ranks amongst his peers from a P4P standpoint atop the sport.
Not only has Alvarez seen better days
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