Latest news with #Scull
The Independent
27-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
From Scull to Rigondeaux: the tortuous professional journey of the Cuban prizefighter
Although Scull, who won the IBF super-middleweight championship in October last year, lives and fights around Berlin, Germany, the defending champion actually comes from Matanzas, Cuba. Despite 300 fights in the amateur game, Scull turned professional nine years ago in Argentina, fighting there for two years before having his first bout in Germany. After a few more bouts in Argentina, Scull began fighting solely - with the exception of a decision over Sean Hemphill in Las Vegas last year - in Germany. Why Cuban boxers never turned professional But why, with such a decorated and extensive amateur career, has Scull found himself fighting largely on German soil? The answer, as in most things, is politics. For years, under the rule of Fidel Castro, professional sports were banned in Cuba and the route to them was cut off by the regime. The Castro regime, which came to power in 1962, implemented a ban on professional boxing the same year. In its place, the Cuban government implemented an extensive, widespread amateur programme that dominated the unpaid side of the sport for decades. The result was that Cuba saw many of its star amateurs not turn off to the professional game. Before the ban, Cuba regularly produced legends such as Kid Gavilan, who became the welterweight champion of the world alongside Kid Chocolate, José Nápoles, and the ill-fated Benny 'Kid' Paret. All that changed from 1962, and the few Cuban fighters that made it into the professional ranks did so in spite of the regime, not because of it. Many fled, some to Mexico and many to Miami, where they began careers. Nápoles went to Florida, where he was one of many Cuban boxers - alongside Luis Manuel Rodriguez - to be taken under the wing of famed coach Angelo Dundee. But who did not make it to the US and who refused to switch from the amateur to the professional code? The Cuban boxers that many fans forget The most-mentioned Cuban in that regard was Teófilo Stevenson, who was born in 1952 and died just sixty years later as an old and broken man. Stevenson won the gold medal in the heavyweight division in the Olympics in 1972 (Munich), 1976 (Montreal), and 1980 (Moscow). He was 6'5', and handsome, and supposedly won 302 of 332 amateur fights. If Stevenson had turned over to the professional side of the sport in any of those years, he had all the skills, talent, and natural ability to have stood with George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes, and Muhammad Ali. And yet he declined the opportunity to do so, famously saying, "What are eight million dollars compared to the love of eight million Cubans?" Stevenson was not the only heavyweight to make such a choice, or to have so much success in the amateur side. After his retirement, Stevenson was followed as a Cuban star by Felix Savon, who won the heavyweight gold medal at the 1992, 1996, and 2000 Olympics. Savon, also, did not turn professional. Recent years have seen Cuba open up more and, consequently, many of its fighters have left to turn professional. Born in Guantanamo, Joel Casamayor went to the US and went on to win multiple world titles. He was followed by Yuriorkis Gamboa, Mike Perez, Yuniel Dorticos, Erislandy Lara, Yoan Pablo Hernandez, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Luis Ortiz, and Yordenis Ugás. Very few Cubans have reached the highest levels of the sport, however, and many have come unstuck with sudden wealth. The sport has yet, since 1962, to have a dominant champion. Against 'Canelo' Alvarez, could that change this weekend? Watch the very best boxing with a DAZN subscription DAZN is the home of combat sports, broadcasting over 185 fights a year from the world's best promoters, including Matchroom, Queensberry, Golden Boy, Misfits, PFL, BKFC, GLORY and more. An Annual Saver subscription is a one-off cost of £119.99 / $224.99 (for 12 months access), that's just 64p / $1.21 per fight. There is also a Monthly Flex Pass option (cancel any time) at £24.99 / $29.99 per month. A subscription includes weekly magazine shows, comprehensive fight library, exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes documentaries, and podcasts and vodcasts.
The Irish Sun
21-05-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
‘I would've beaten him' – Jake Paul blasts Canelo Alvarez's win over William Scull and but says shock fight WILL happen
JAKE PAUL blasted Canelo Alvarez's win over William Scull - but says their shock fight WILL happen. The YouTuber-turned-boxer and Mexican great were close to announcing a blockbuster May 3 bout in Las Vegas. Advertisement 4 Jake Paul blasted Canelo Alvarez's win over William Scull Credit: Splash 4 Scull was beaten by Canelo on points in a dull affair Credit: Getty He beat Scull, 32, in Riyadh to But Paul told Advertisement READ MORE IN BOXING "Even just watching him against Scull, he's just washed up, inactive, doesn't throw a lot of punches, not very strong. "What's crazy is one of my main sparring partners from the last two years was the one who 'lost' to William Scull. "He was the one that should have been fighting Canelo. His name is Vladimir Shishkin. "He beat Scull way worse than Canelo did, and this is the guy I'm sparring with every day for two and a half years, going toe-to-toe with. Advertisement Most read in Boxing 4 CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS "When it happens, I'm going to have the last laugh, and I know what I'm capable of, and there's a lot more names on the list I'm going to beat in the next couple of years. "It's going to be the greatest boxing career of all time." Advertisement Jake Paul confirms rules for Gervonta Davis fight despite FIVE STONE weight difference with exhibition in works for 2025 Despite the dramatic collapse of their deal, Paul, 28, is still confident he will fight Canelo, 34, in the future. He said: "Yeah, I think so. I think so, just because from a third party view we're the two biggest names in the sport. "And because of that it's just going to be fun and exciting and I like making history with big events." Paul's last fight was at heavyweight beating Mike Tyson - who controversially came out of retirement aged 58. Advertisement Now he returns back down at cruiserweight on June 28 against It comes after talks to rematch Tommy Fury, 26, who Paul lost to in 2023 and arch enemy KSI, 31, both failed. Paul said: "I think Julio, that conversation has always been there, and fans have always wanted it. "He's a former world champion, super experienced, and it's a good chip on my belt to test myself in the ring with a very, very tough opponent. Advertisement "He has the name behind him, the Mexican fan base, Puerto Rico vs. Mexico, and he was actually somebody that stepped up to the table. "The Tommy Fury [talks] have always been there, the KSI discussions have always been there, but those guys don't actually want to make a fight happen. "Julio stepped up, credit to him, and we made June 28 happen." 4 Jake Paul returns against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr Credit: Splash Advertisement
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Boxing's big weekend falls flat — but Canelo vs Crawford can inject new energy
Saul Canelo Alvarez and some of the world's finest boxers failed to deliver a decent round of action in four fights, during two nights in two cities over the long weekend. Alvarez looked old at times, slow at times, bored at times but was never in any danger of losing his full undisputed world title fight against William Scull at super-middleweight. Scull moved and jabbed and then just kept on moving; he was there to survive and, amazingly, he entered the ring as a world champion. Both were poor. Advertisement The story behind the fight is far more entertaining, but just as frustrating, as the twelve-round bore in Riyadh. The fight took place at about 7am local time on Sunday and hopefully it never kept too many people awake. Scull was gifted the IBF version of the world title when he was rejected as an opponent by Canelo back in 2023; Scull, a Cuban exile in Berlin, was then matched with Vladimir Shishkin, a Russian exile in Miami, for Canelo's old belt; it was a comedy, a stupid move by the IBF. Scull won a forgettable fight and found himself in a lucrative undisputed position against Alvarez, who owned the other three belts and the Ring version; the Saudi boxing chest was raided, and Canelo was enticed to Riyadh for the fight. And nobody can blame him for that or Scull for running with his money. Canelo Alvarez was not at his best against William Scull (Getty Images) It's not the fault of the Saudi boxing regime that the fight was a stinker; Alvarez needs a dance partner, a man willing to try and win – Scull took the money, ran and ran and finished without a scratch in a truly forgettable fight. They averaged about four or less punches on target in each round. It was diabolical and both must take a bit of criticism for the dreadful fight. Advertisement The good news - well, hopefully the good news - is that Alvarez in victory will now fight Terence Crawford in defence of his super-middleweight belts in Las Vegas at the Allegiant Stadium on 12 September. In the Riyadh ring, once Scull had posed with his family and Alvarez, there was a face-off between Alvarez and Crawford. It is fantastic that it has been made, it could be a fun week in Las Vegas, but there is the very real potential for a technical stand-off. The winner would be boxing's king, by the way. Incidentally, the fight will be promoted by UFC maestro, Dana White, a new player in the Saudi boxing business. It will launch the new deal and could be screened on Netflix or DAZN, the regular production partner to the Saudis. Crawford is the older man at 37, he is unbeaten in 41 fights and last summer he won the light-middleweight world title, a belt at 154 pounds. Alvarez, who will be 35 on fight night, has won a world title at light-heavyweight, which is 175 pounds, and has ruled at the super-middleweight limit of 168 pounds for a long, long time. Make no mistake, this is a super fight, but that does not mean it will be a classic. They are both too smart for that. Canelo Alvarez (right) stared down Terence Crawford with the pair primed to meet in September (Getty Images) Some of boxing's highest-profile fights have been incredible events and bad fights. Floyd Mayweather's punch-perfect win over a lame Manny Pacquaio just never took off; the life was sucked out of the capacity crowd by about round four. It was a hard watch. Mayweather did exactly what he had to do, and this fight is no different: Crawford beats Alvarez with skill and Alvarez beats Crawford by not taking risks; the pair could box to perfection, never make a mistake and it would still be one for the purists only. It is still a super fight. Advertisement On Saturday night, Alvarez looked like a ghost of the rampaging champion that he has been for about 15 years. It was disturbing and what if, after 67 fights, he is starting to slip. Crawford was ringside and smiling; perhaps he saw decline and not just Alvarez having a bad night. It was too easy to forget that going in, Alvarez was the best fighter on the planet. The known and the unknown make the Alvarez and Crawford fight very special. What if Crawford is simply too small at the weight and Alvarez decides to crush him early? What if Alvarez is shot and Crawford is too fresh? There are enough unknowns to make it unmissable. However, Crawford and Alvarez are not stupid, and they have nothing to prove; all truly great fights need those two ingredients. Even a card in Times Square felt strangely unsatisfying (Getty Images) The night before the Alvarez fight in Riyadh, there were three odd and unsatisfying fights in New York, magically pitched in a section of Times Square. It was all part of the Saudi outreach business. There is another big show planned for July, and it might be in Central Park. Advertisement Not one of the three twelve-round fights even slightly delivered; the performances lacked passion, urgency, desire, highlights and that is rare on any night. Ryan Garcia lost on points to Rolando Romero, Devin Haney beat Jose Carlos Ramirez and Teofimo Lopez beat Arnold Barboza Jr. That is a powerful set of names. It was strange for three important fights, involving six good boxers to not produce a solitary memorable round. There has been, in the savage aftermath, a lot of talk about technical skills, quality movement, defensive styles. Nice talk, but the truth is a lot of very good fighters were poor in New York. It was a strange hitless weekend, totally forgettable, but a super fight was announced. Naoya Inoue hit the canvas in the second round but eventually overcame Ramon Cardenas (Getty Images) And then on Sunday, night three of a long Saudi boxing weekend, Naoya Inoue delivered a furious stoppage of Ramon Cardenas in Las Vegas. Inoue is Canelo's rival for the crown of best fighter in the business; on Sunday night he was dropped by Cardenas in the second and then stopped him in the eighth to retain his undisputed super-bantamweight world title. It was his 27th stoppage in 30 fights. Inoue never runs; he fights with his heart and guts. Even in this modern age, where rings can be conjured in the middle of Times Square, that still counts.
The Independent
05-05-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Boxing's big weekend falls flat — but Canelo vs Crawford can inject new energy
Saul Canelo Alvarez and some of the world's finest boxers failed to deliver a decent round of action in four fights, during two nights in two cities over the long weekend. Alvarez looked old at times, slow at times, bored at times but was never in any danger of losing his full undisputed world title fight against William Scull at super-middleweight. Scull moved and jabbed and then just kept on moving; he was there to survive and, amazingly, he entered the ring as a world champion. Both were poor. The story behind the fight is far more entertaining, but just as frustrating, as the twelve-round bore in Riyadh. The fight took place at about 7am local time on Sunday and hopefully it never kept too many people awake. Scull was gifted the IBF version of the world title when he was rejected as an opponent by Canelo back in 2023; Scull, a Cuban exile in Berlin, was then matched with Vladimir Shishkin, a Russian exile in Miami, for Canelo's old belt; it was a comedy, a stupid move by the IBF. Scull won a forgettable fight and found himself in a lucrative undisputed position against Alvarez, who owned the other three belts and the Ring version; the Saudi boxing chest was raided, and Canelo was enticed to Riyadh for the fight. And nobody can blame him for that or Scull for running with his money. It's not the fault of the Saudi boxing regime that the fight was a stinker; Alvarez needs a dance partner, a man willing to try and win – Scull took the money, ran and ran and finished without a scratch in a truly forgettable fight. They averaged about four or less punches on target in each round. It was diabolical and both must take a bit of criticism for the dreadful fight. The good news - well, hopefully the good news - is that Alvarez in victory will now fight Terence Crawford in defence of his super-middleweight belts in Las Vegas at the Allegiant Stadium on 12 September. In the Riyadh ring, once Scull had posed with his family and Alvarez, there was a face-off between Alvarez and Crawford. It is fantastic that it has been made, it could be a fun week in Las Vegas, but there is the very real potential for a technical stand-off. The winner would be boxing's king, by the way. Incidentally, the fight will be promoted by UFC maestro, Dana White, a new player in the Saudi boxing business. It will launch the new deal and could be screened on Netflix or DAZN, the regular production partner to the Saudis. Crawford is the older man at 37, he is unbeaten in 41 fights and last summer he won the light-middleweight world title, a belt at 154 pounds. Alvarez, who will be 35 on fight night, has won a world title at light-heavyweight, which is 175 pounds, and has ruled at the super-middleweight limit of 168 pounds for a long, long time. Make no mistake, this is a super fight, but that does not mean it will be a classic. They are both too smart for that. Some of boxing's highest-profile fights have been incredible events and bad fights. Floyd Mayweather's punch-perfect win over a lame Manny Pacquaio just never took off; the life was sucked out of the capacity crowd by about round four. It was a hard watch. Mayweather did exactly what he had to do, and this fight is no different: Crawford beats Alvarez with skill and Alvarez beats Crawford by not taking risks; the pair could box to perfection, never make a mistake and it would still be one for the purists only. It is still a super fight. On Saturday night, Alvarez looked like a ghost of the rampaging champion that he has been for about 15 years. It was disturbing and what if, after 67 fights, he is starting to slip. Crawford was ringside and smiling; perhaps he saw decline and not just Alvarez having a bad night. It was too easy to forget that going in, Alvarez was the best fighter on the planet. Enjoy 185+ fights a year on DAZN, the Global Home of Boxing Never miss a fight from top promoters. Watch on your devices anywhere, anytime. See Schedule ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. The known and the unknown make the Alvarez and Crawford fight very special. What if Crawford is simply too small at the weight and Alvarez decides to crush him early? What if Alvarez is shot and Crawford is too fresh? There are enough unknowns to make it unmissable. However, Crawford and Alvarez are not stupid, and they have nothing to prove; all truly great fights need those two ingredients. The night before the Alvarez fight in Riyadh, there were three odd and unsatisfying fights in New York, magically pitched in a section of Times Square. It was all part of the Saudi outreach business. There is another big show planned for July, and it might be in Central Park. Not one of the three twelve-round fights even slightly delivered; the performances lacked passion, urgency, desire, highlights and that is rare on any night. Ryan Garcia lost on points to Rolando Romero, Devin Haney beat Jose Carlos Ramirez and Teofimo Lopez beat Arnold Barboza Jr. That is a powerful set of names. It was strange for three important fights, involving six good boxers to not produce a solitary memorable round. There has been, in the savage aftermath, a lot of talk about technical skills, quality movement, defensive styles. Nice talk, but the truth is a lot of very good fighters were poor in New York. It was a strange hitless weekend, totally forgettable, but a super fight was announced. And then on Sunday, night three of a long Saudi boxing weekend, Naoya Inoue delivered a furious stoppage of Ramon Cardenas in Las Vegas. Inoue is Canelo's rival for the crown of best fighter in the business; on Sunday night he was dropped by Cardenas in the second and then stopped him in the eighth to retain his undisputed super-bantamweight world title. It was his 27th stoppage in 30 fights. Inoue never runs; he fights with his heart and guts. Even in this modern age, where rings can be conjured in the middle of Times Square, that still counts.
Daily Express
05-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Express
Alvarez unifies super middleweight titles on Saudi debut
Published on: Monday, May 05, 2025 Published on: Mon, May 05, 2025 By: AFP Text Size: Scull (right) lands a punch on Alvarez during their super middleweight boxing match. RIYADH: Mexican boxing superstar Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez unified the super middleweight world titles after a unanimous points win over IBF champion William Scull in Riyadh early on Sunday. Alvarez, 34, improved to 63-2-2 with 39 knockouts after doing enough on his Saudi debut which continued his tradition of fighting during the Mexican festival weekend of Cinco de Mayo. The Cuban super middleweight entered the unification title fight with a 23-0 record as a heavy underdog. Scull largely stayed on the outside for most of the fight, relying on his advantage in height and reach along with footwork and speed to try keep Alvarez at bay. But Canelo was able to land walloping body shots throughout the fight, as he stalked Scull, cutting off the ring and cornering his opponent with flurries of hooks. 'He moved even more than I thought. But, it's OK, we win,' said Canelo in the post-fight interview. Canelo was coming off a lopsided unanimous decision over Edgar Berlanga in Las Vegas last year. Alvarez was stripped of his International Boxing Federation belt when he agreed to fight Berlanga over Scull, the IBF's mandatory challenger. This weekend's contest marked the first time Canelo has fought outside of North America during his nearly 20-year professional career. The boxers entered the ring early Sunday morning to coincide with prime time Saturday night TV in North America. The bout had been billed as a tune-up for a widely anticipated showdown between Alvarez and Terence Crawford later this year. Following the win, Crawford entered the ring, where a fight date was agreed for the two to meet in Las Vegas on September 12. On the undercard, Jaime Munguia avenged his knockout loss to super middleweight Bruno Surace last year, after keeping the Frenchman against the ropes for much of the rematch and landing rapid combinations, earning him a unanimous decision. In recent years, the kingdom has been pouring money into boxing events as part of Saudi Arabia's oil-funded thrust into the sporting world, which has drawn accusations of 'sportswashing' its dubious human rights record. Along with Formula One, the LIV Golf tour and attracting several ageing football stars to its domestic league, Saudi Arabia was named last year as the host of the 2034 football World Cup. Alvarez signed a four-fight deal with Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Seasons promotion in February. * Follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram and/or WhatsApp channel(s) for the latest news you don't want to miss. * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
