Alvarez set up a match against former welterweight champion Terrence Crawford after beating Skull in a unanimous decision.
Saul “Canero” Alvarez won the WBA (Super), WBC, WBO Belt and IBF Super Middleweight Championship with unanimous decision against William Skull, setting up a match against former welterweight champion Terrence Crawford in September.
With the advantage of height, Cuban skull, who reached Alvarez, experienced the first defeat of his professional boxing career on Sunday, unable to find the answer to Mexican systematic stalkers and effective body blows.
“For me, it’s a boring battle. [Scull was] They are just not trying to win, they are trying to survive. Alvarez spoke in a postwar interview after three judges awarded him the victory (115-113, 116-112, 119-109).
Alvarez, who was stripped of his IBF strap last year after choosing to fight Edgar Berlanga over Skull, the number one candidate for the sanctions group, became the second incontroversial 168 pound champion.
Skull’s quick movements were not enough to avoid Alvarez’s steady onslaught early as the Mexican landed strong body blows in the second and fourth rounds, temporarily dislodging Skull from balance.
Alvarez was fighting for the first time outside of America and Mexico, but continued to stalk the Cubans in the fifth round, but Skull fought back and smashed Alvarez’s guard with the right upper and pushed him back before catching him at the counter.
“Don’t let this guy be bigger and more confident,” Alvarez’s corner warned him at the end of the sixth round after Skull caught him with another right hand before Alvarez responded with a body shot.
Alvarez landed the combination on his body in the seventh round and caught the skull with a lead hook near the rope in the eighth.
The measured attack on the body continued from Alvarez.
Alvarez, 34, improved to 63-2-2 with 39 knockouts after doing enough for his Saudi debut.
The Mexican said he’s looking forward to returning to the ring against Las Vegas’ undefeated Crawford.
“Crawford is one of the best things there. I like sharing rings with such fighters. That’s my joy,” he said.
American Crawford, who became the Wheaterweight champion who knocked out Errol Spence JR in 2023, said he was ready to take on Alvarez when he faces off in the ring.
“September will show the world what greatness looks like,” Crawford said.
Alvarez signed four fights with Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Seasons Promotion in February.
In recent years, the kingdom has poured money into a dosing event to the sports world that sparked accusations of “sportwassing” its tragic human rights records as part of Saudi Arabia’s oil-funded impulses.
In addition to Formula One and the Liv Golf Tour, it attracted several aging soccer stars to the domestic league, and Saudi Arabia was named host of the 2034 Football World Cup last year.
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