At 6 a.m. in Riyadh: Saúl Canelo Álvarez tests his mettle against William Scull, an "indomitable" opponent with an Argentine ID.

The weekend of May 5th, the day Mexicans commemorate their army's victory over the French invaders at the Battle of Puebla in 1862, is a traditional date on Saúl Álvarez 's calendar. For the first time, Canelo 's celebration will not be held this year in Mexico or the United States, but in Riyadh, where the boxing world is imagining him becoming the undisputed super middleweight champion for the second time. The one who will have the chance to prevent that and pull off a major upset will be Cuban William Scull, a man who lived in Argentina for almost five years and who will have the opportunity of a lifetime this Saturday. The fight will begin at midnight and will be broadcast on the DAZN platform.

The 67th fight of a professional career that will mark 20 years in October will be the first that the multi-champion will not have in North American territory (he had 35 in Mexico and 31 in the United States). His appearance at the ANB Arena in Riyadh is a consequence of the work that Canelo has been doing for years as administrator of the highly profitable enterprise that his body and his name have become. In that role, he publicly argued and tenaciously bid with Turki Alalshikh , president of the General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia, and even threatened to arrange a fight with YouTuber boxer Jake Paul until in February he got what he wanted: a astronomical contract backed by the monarchy's banknotes.

The agreement contemplates four fights. The first will be this weekend, which, to accommodate primetime television in the United States , will force the fighters into a very awkward scheduling situation: the main bout will be in Riyadh on Sunday at 6 a.m., shortly after dawn, while the preliminary bouts will start at 2 a.m., similar to what happened when Muhammad Ali and George Foreman met in 1974 (that fight began at 4 a.m. in Kinshasa). To accommodate this situation, Álvarez, who arrived in the Saudi capital on April 15, has been holding early morning training sessions in recent weeks.

Although it has not been made official, the second commitment of the agreement between Canelo and Alalshikh already has a date, venue and opponent written in lemon ink: September 13 at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas against undefeated American Terence Crawford , former undisputed champion of the super lightweight and welterweight categories, and current super welterweight champion of the World Boxing Association, who would move up two divisions to challenge the Mexican.

For that to happen as agreed, it is necessary for the fighter born in San Agustín, on the outskirts of Guadalajara, to regain this weekend his status as undisputed king of the super middleweights, which he held from November 2021, after his victory over Caleb Plant , until July 2024, when the International Boxing Federation stripped him of his title for refusing to face the man who was then, and for two years, number one in his ranking. That man is today the champion recognized by that organization and the obstacle that Álvarez will face: William Scull .

It wasn't until the IBF summoned Canelo to face him that the Cuban's name began to circulate outside the sport's inner circle. Many doubts and objections have been raised about his background and his qualifications for this fight. Beyond that, the belt the redhead is seeking to once again complete the four-man 168-pound title currently belongs to the boxer, who was born 32 years ago in Zorrilla, a small town of just over 1,000 inhabitants in the province of Matanzas, in central Cuba, but who has an Argentine ID .

Scull, who began boxing at age 10, was a member of his country's national team and fought more than 350 amateur bouts. In 2016, he traveled to Argentina with his current coach, Franquis Aldama , as part of a sports exchange project. They both had return tickets, but they never used them and settled in Mendoza, where they lived for a year and a half. In those first months, Scull struggled to obtain a license and a chance to fight professionally. His debut came on November 11, 2016, when he knocked out Mendoza native Gastón Ávalos in the first round in San Carlos.

The Indomable 's fortunes began to change in 2017, when promoter Mario Arano hired him to spar with Lucas Matthysse (who was preparing to face American Emanuel Taylor) in Trelew. There, he found his place: he settled in the city, had a son (William Junior, now five years old), and built a career. His first nine paid bouts and 11 of his first 13 were held in the country: he appeared in Trelew, Puerto Madryn, Playa Unión, Bragado, Junín, Bel Ville, Justiniano Posse, and Villa Mercedes. Along the way, he became the South American super middleweight champion in July 2019, knocking out Luján native Sebastián Papeschi .

#boxing Great Moments 2019 of #aranobox JULY 20 - Origone Sports Complex of Justiniano Posse, Cba. William “the Indomitable” Scull (Cuba / Trelew, Chu. / 75,700) GKOT 6 Sebastián Papeschi (Luján, https://t.co/1J4ngoPLQq .76,200). Won the South American title. Super middleweight. pic.twitter.com/lEcDnDmxCH

— Arano Box (@aranoboxok) January 7, 2020

In 2020, after two successful trials in Germany, he moved to that country after being signed by the promoter AGON Sports. He has spent almost his entire career on German soil in the last five years, with the exception of one fight in the United States: in May 2024, when he was already number one in the IBF super middleweight rankings, he defeated Sean Hemphill on points at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in one of the supplementary fights on the card that featured the duel between Saúl Álvarez and his compatriot Jaime Munguía as its main attraction.

At that time, the IBF was already pushing for a fight with Canelo , which at the time seemed highly unlikely. When the organization stripped the Mexican of his title, it ordered Scull to face the number two ranked fighter, Russian Vladimir Shishkin , for the vacant title. On October 19 in Falkensee, Germany, the Cuban won on points in a highly contested unanimous decision. This was his 23rd victory in as many professional fights (nine were by knockout). The 24th, the most important and the one that (almost) everyone believes he will lose, will be this Saturday against the man with the red hair and the golden checkbook.