Another fight of Canelo Alvarez and another opponent who did not want to engage him, led to the disappointing night in which the boxing super star won, but the fans lost.
Again.
This alarming trend must stop and I hope that Terenka Crawford will force Canelo to fight because fans deserve something better.
Unfortunately, Canelo brought it.
The unanimous victory in the Canelo decision (119-109, 116-112 and 115-113) over William Scull on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was the last in his last series of fights without drama or emotions. In the fight against Scull, Canelo threw a total of 152 blows. This number is the first of the first blows thrown into the 12-round fight in the 40-year compubox history. This is fatal, even according to low Canelo output standards. However, he was in the ring with a warrior who was not interested in winning and just wanted to survive, because Scull was approaching the ring and landed 55 out of 293 blows. Nothing that landed had no consequences, and Canelo was not remotely threatened by the previously undefeated Szula.
The reality is that Canelo deserved it.
Because in May 2022 he lost to Dmitryjum Bivol, Canelo spent the last three years, loading his bank account, fighting with a smaller opposition and leaving fans who wanted more. He received a pass for fighting the aging Gennadiy “GGG” Golovkin two years too overdue, and following her back home against John Ryder. Then, however, he is expected that he will have more than a distinguished David Benavidez, a compulsory pretender WBC. Instead, Canelo decided to fight the undersized and filled Jermell Charlo and unjustified opponents of Jaime Munguia and Edgar Berlang. There will be those who say that Canelo had to fight Scull to become unquestioned again and blame IBF for installing an unverified warrior as a compulsory opponent, but it’s only half true. The reality is that Canelo can do what she wants, and the only real obligatory opponent (of course dictated by fans) was Benavidez. For any reason, Canelo did not want this fight. And here we are.
To be forthright, the fight with Jake Paul would be better than what we saw with Scull. Sure, Paul doesn’t deserve either, but would anyone doubt that he would at least win? In the end, Canelo was close to fighting Paweł before Turki Alalshikh, chairman of the general entertainment authority of Saudi Arabia, he could not refuse with the Canelo offer.
This trend would not be so bad if Canelo provided exhilarating fights. Instead, his last trips seemed too sheltered, choosing financial security before taking risks and sending opponents at a distance. He was too conservative. And even when he had opponents on the proverbial ropes, he apparently let them reach the last bell. His recent opponents south and did not try to win. And Canelo was nice enough to let them break away from several additional zeros on her bank account.
He will not have such a luxury against Crawford when they meet on September 12 at the Allegian stadium in Las Vegas.
Of course, Canelo will have a significant advantage of greatness, because Crawford – the undisputed champion in welterweight and welterweight – entered two consecutive weight classes to challenge him. But Crawford is one of the best fighters of this generation and has an average run that will not allow Canelo to a cruise to another decision. Instead, at some point, Canelo will have to bite his eraser and fight Crawford. This is something that we haven’t seen that Canelo has been doing Bivol since the fight. He spent the last three years in adored sparring sessions without a sense of danger.
At this stage of her career, Canelo needs a challenge that Crawford represents. He spent the first two -thirds of his career, charging his CVs with high quality names, but the last third saw how he avoided hard challenges, while depositing gigantic controls. And before you say he deserved that fans and critics also deserved to call him.
Although it can be great for Canelo, fans deserve it. The so -called “boxing face” should push the sport further into the mainstream. These fights work exactly the opposite.
The latest Canelo offer with the Riyadh season will continue to appear, but fans deserve to see one of the biggest boxers of this era in a hard fight.
World Boxing News provides results and updates as Johnny Fisher faces Michael Pirotton on Zuffa Boxing 11 at the Copper Box Arena in London.
Fisher returns to heavyweight action over ten rounds against Pirotton as part of Zuffa Boxing’s latest event in the United Kingdom.
Craig Richards faces Radivoje Kalajdzic at light heavyweight, while Lee Cutler takes on Louis Greene and Cesar Mateo Tapia faces Leo Ruiz at middleweight.
WBN provides results and updates from every bout as they happen.
Results
All times are local BST.
23:41
Johnny Fisher defeated Michael Pirotton by majority decision after ten competitive heavyweight rounds at the Copper Box Arena. WBN scored the fight 98-92 for Fisherwhile the official judges returned scores of 98-92 and 96-95 for Fisher, with the third scoring it 95-95.
22:42
Radivoje Kalajdzic improved to 31-3 with a unanimous decision over Craig Richards, who dropped to 20-5-1 after a good ten-round scrap. Both men had their moments and hurt each other at times before “Hot Rod” got the verdict on the scorecards, which included knocking Richards down for the first time in his career.
21:43
Lee Cutler carded a unanimous decision win over Louis Greene in their ten-round middleweight clash. Judges scorecard 98-92 and 97-93 twice in favor on Cutler, who improves to 17-2.
20:52
Ahead of the three main bouts, Zuffa’s only female fighter, Kayla Allendefeated Edina Kiss via TKO in their super lightweight bout.
20:32
Leo Ruiz overcame Cesar Tapia over 10 rounds at middleweight, scoring a unanimous decision to move to 18-1 as Ruiz Tapia suffered a first loss.
19:29
Alex MacMillan moved to 5-0 with a second-round stoppage of Guillaume Azagier, who went down twice in the opening round and again before the finish at 0:32 of the second.
18:40
Rogelio Romero improved to 7-0 with a third-round stoppage of previously unbeaten Aurel Ignat, ending the cruiserweight contest at 2:12.
18:24
Alexis De la Cerda improved to 10-0 with a unanimous decision over Cain Lewis, taking the eight-round contest 80-72, 79-74 and 79-73.
17:42
Fred Pullen marked his professional debut with a four-round points victory over Leonardo Faretina, who was dropped in the second round.
Remaining Bouts
Johnny Fisher vs. Michael Pirotton — 10 rounds, heavyweight
Craig Richards vs. Radivoje Kalajdzic — 10 rounds, light heavyweight
TV Coverage
The event is available live on Sky in the United Kingdom and Paramount+.
Follow WBN’s live boxing coverage throughout the event.
About the Author
Phil Jay is the Editor-in-Chief of World Boxing News (WBN), a BWAA-acknowledged boxing news website founded in 2010. A veteran boxing reporter with 16 years of experience, he has interviewed world champions, broken international exclusives, and reported ringside from major events. His work is published worldwide through WBN and distributed on platforms including Apple News.
World Boxing News provides results and updates as Liam Davies faces Nathaniel Collins in the main event at bp pulse LIVE in Birmingham.
Davies and Collins collide over 12 rounds for the EBU European featherweight title at the top of the Queensberry Promotions card.
Luke McCormack faces Kay Prospere for the vacant British super lightweight title, while Bradley Goldsmith takes on Amir Abubaker for the IBF International middleweight title.
WBN provides results and updates from every bout as they happen.
Results
All times are local BST.
23:11
Gerome Warburton defeated Nathan Heaney for the second time running as the middleweight put an exclamation mark on his first victory.
Heaney walks away from the sport having been an entertainer through a long carer, without reaching the heights of a world title.
22:04
Liam Davies improved to 19-1 after Nathaniel Collins retired at the end of the seventh round due to a cut over his right eye. Collins had also been dropped in the opening round as Davies successfully defended the European featherweight title.
21:22
Bradley Goldsmith improved to 17-1 with a seventh-round stoppage of Amir Abubaker to retain his IBF International middleweight title. Abubaker went down in the fourth and three times in the seventh before the finish at 2:42.
20:10
Lewis Richardson improved to 3-0 with a shutout six-round points victory over Ivan Trofimovich, earning a 60-54 decision.
19:56
Luke McCormack moved to 6-0 and claimed the vacant British super lightweight title with a tenth-round knockout of Kay Prospere, who was counted out after a right uppercut at 1:28.
18:55
Michael Hussain moved to 5-0 with a four-round points victory over Nabil Ahmed, earning a 39-38 decision.
18:11
Nelson Birchall moved to 12-0 with a third-round stoppage of Lewis Morris, who went down before the finish came at 1:12. Lasha Guruli also remained unbeaten at 5-0 after edging Hughie Wilson 77-75 over eight rounds.
17:22
Early action saw John Tom Varey and Reese Lynch claim four-round victories to move to 3-0 and 5-0 respectively.
TV Coverage
DAZN provides full worldwide coverage.
Follow WBN’s live boxing coverage throughout the event.
About the Author
Phil Jay is the Editor-in-Chief of World Boxing News (WBN), a BWAA-acknowledged boxing news website founded in 2010. A veteran boxing reporter with 16 years of experience, he has interviewed world champions, broken international exclusives, and reported ringside from major events. His work is published worldwide through WBN and distributed on platforms including Apple News.
Janibek Alimkhanuly spent months trying to get Hamzah Sheeraz into the ring. Now that Sheeraz has vacated his WBO super middleweight title, Janibek is asking fans to stop saying the former champion ran from him. That is generous. It also leaves Janibek with less to say about a fight he wanted badly.
He’s not afraid of me. He didn’t run from me. He made his decision based on his own plans. He has his own goals! He’s my brother, and I ask everyone to stop saying he ran from me. He’s a great fighter, and I have nothing but respect for him! @sheeraz_hamzah 🫂 pic.twitter.com/uxZlegqSmH
— Janibek Alimkhanuly (@qazaqstyle) September 26, 2026
Janibek’s tone has changed since the purse bid. He was eager to fight, said money was not his priority, and publicly pushed Sheeraz to accept. Queensberry then bid $1,001,809 to stage the ordered defense, beating Top Rank’s $820,000 offer. Sheeraz’s 75 percent share would have been roughly $751,000. Days later, he gave up the belt.
That sequence deserves a closer look. Queensberry put a serious number on the fight, so the bid itself cannot be dismissed as proof that nobody valued it. But winning the right to promote a title defense means little to fans when the champion vacates before it happens.
Sheeraz has objected to Janibek receiving a mandatory shot after his failed drug test. He is entitled to explain that position. Fans are equally entitled to ask why the issue reached a purse bid before he surrendered the title. Janibek’s post supplies no answer.
Perhaps Janibek sees no benefit in branding Sheeraz a coward. Doing so would also make the opponent he chased sound less valuable. Calling Sheeraz a great fighter preserves the idea that this was an important contest, even after the belt and the fight slipped away.
The respect between them may be sincere. Janibek still gets no Sheeraz fight, and Sheeraz no longer has to defend his title against Janibek. A friendly photo does not change either result.
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Boxing247.com is an independent boxing news publication covering the sport since 2001. It provides original reporting, fight analysis, schedules, results, and informed coverage of major fighters and events worldwide, backed by more than 25 years of professional boxing journalism.
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