Promoter Sampson Lewkowicz says it was “shameful” the way that WBA, WBC, and WBO super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez fought last Saturday in his fight against IBF champ William Scull in Riyadh.
He says that after Canelo got “paid so much money,” and then didn’t take any risks,” it was a bad look. The fight was on Cinco de Mayo holiday, and a lot of Mexican fans purchased the event on DAZN PPV, only to have Alvarez refuse to engage. Canelo reportedly got $80 million for the Scull fight.
“Shameful” Effort
Scull (23-1, 9 KOs) was even worse. Lewkowicz states that the Cuban Scull needed the courage of David Morrell, because he had lost with “dignity” by fighting hard against David Benavidez.
Canelo only threw 152 punches in the entire 12-round fight against Scull, landing 56. Scull threw 293 and connected on 55 of them. It’s bad enough that Alvarez picked Scull as the guy that he wanted to fight, but then to show no effort, it was poor.
Fans say that Canelo was stealing their money with no guilt. He claims he wanted to entertain his Mexican fans, but his performance says otherwise. With the $80m that Alvarez got for the fight, he should have taken some risks to earn the dough.
“Look, when you get paid so much money, you’ve got to take some risks. Canelo didn’t want to take a risk, and the other [William Scull] guy. You know, the Cuban school. He damaged all the Cubans,” said promoter Sampson Lewkowicz to Pro Boxing Fans about Canelo Alvarez’s poor effort in his win over William Scull last Saturday night in Riyadh.
Since his fight with Dmitry Bivol on May 7, 2022, Canelo hasn’t taken any risks in years. Every fight since has been a cherry pick for him. The Bivol fight was supposed to be an easy one for him, but he failed to realize how good he is.
“We have a problem with others who are running, and I believe everything has been changed,” said Sampson. “I wish somebody would take the balls of [Cuban David] Morrell, because Morrell lost [against David Benavidez] with dignity. This guy [Scull] lost with shame.”
Scull has never fought with bravery like Cuban David Morrell. He wasn’t an accomplished Cuban amateur like Morrell was. Scull had a short amateur career and didn’t come from the same background as Morrell to turn pro with high expectations. Scull is just a German-based fighter that happens to be Cuban.
Never Took a Risk
“Canelo didn’t engage in the fight. He never took a risk, and it’s shameful too for him,” said Lewkowicz. “And besides that, now you know the reason why Benavidez wasn’t so nice, and he talked so much s***, and his father too. But it was a good excuse for Canelo [to avoid] because he cannot fight. He’s not capable of fighting Benavidez. That is the truth.
“No, I didn’t speak to David [about whether he watched the Canelo-Scull fight]. He probably fell asleep. Most likely, he fell asleep. I don’t believe he saw the fight. I fell asleep.”
Canelo-Scull fight was very boring. You wonder what Turki Alalshikh was thinking watching the fight at ringside after paying Canelo all that money. If Canelo isn’t going to put out effort against a non-puncher like Scull, what do you think he’s going to do against Terence Crawford on September 12th?
“David [Benavidez] will fight in September or October. I will book Cinco de Mayo in 2026 at the T-Mobile in Las Vegas. I asked Alalshikh if we can do the winner [of Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2] and unify the real champions. This is what we want,” said Lewkowicz.
Last Updated on 05/05/2025
2025-05-06 01:13:33
