Canelo Álvarez’s first Riyadh Season fight will be for all the marbles.
Álvarez – the reigning WBO, WBA, and WBC super middleweight champion – will fight IBF titleholder William Scull in a 168-pound unification title fight May 3 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Turki Alalshikh announced Saturday.
The bout will be contested on the morning of May 4, Saudi Arabia time, to allow for a prime-time broadcast in the United States, according to ESPN’s Mike Coppinger. It will mark Álvarez’s first fight outside North America.
This will be Álvarez’s first fight of a four-fight deal he signed with Riyadh Season this week. Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, shockingly convinced the 34-year-old to reverse course Thursday and take his contract instead of a deal to fight YouTuber turned boxer Jake Paul.
Álvarez briefly responded on YouTube to Paul’s social media posts blasting him for apparently backing out of a deal.
