Canelo Alvarez vs. William Scull: Live Winners and Losers, Results

Undisputed, schmundisputed.

Canelo Alvarez has been a pay-per-view mainstay since he stepped in with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013 and he returned to a familiar headlining spotlight on Saturday night in Saudi Arabia, where he was expected to regain a belt that he'd never lost.

The Mexican superstar has been the top man at 168 pounds since the fall of 2021 and had never been beaten at the weight, but he had the IBF slice of the super middleweight pie snatched from him last summer when he chose to fight Edgar Berlanga rather than William Scull.

Scull claimed that title by beating another anonymous foe, and he brought it with him to Riyadh to make it a full-fledged undisputed championship match.

It was perceived as a perfunctory exercise for Alvarez, who arrived at 62-2-2 with 39 KOs to Scull's pristine 23-0 mark with nine KOs. The cinnamon-haired 34-year-old was billed as a prohibitive -3000 favorite at DraftKings, meaning it would have taken a $3,000 wager to turn a mere $100 profit if he brought home the victory.

The B/R combat team was in place to take it all in and deliver a definitive, real-time list of the show's winners and losers. Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought of your own in the comments.

Canelo Alvarez won the decision. William Scull acted indignant.

But the real winner after 12 stupefyingly dull rounds between the two guys holding claims to elite status at 168 pounds was neither the Mexican superstar nor the Cuban runner.

It was Terence Crawford, presuming he stayed awake at ringside.

The comprehensive egg laid by the principals in the main event—after which Alvarez had his hand raised by unanimous decision—casts a new light on a late summer/early fall challenge from the 37-year-old Nebraskan, who’s won belts in four weight classes from 135 to 154 pounds and earned undisputed status in two of them.

Where some have dismissed Crawford because he’d be jumping two weight classes, they may be a little quicker to sign off given the lack of violent intent shown by Scull, who won his IBF only after the trinket had been stripped from Alvarez for fighting Edgar Berlanga last year.

Can Crawford win? Maybe. But will he be more interesting? Absolutely.

The fight was officially announced after Scull exited the ring and Crawford and Alvarez shared a cordial but intense stare down. It’s penciled in for September 12 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, and analyst Sergio Mora is already excited.

“It’s a fantastic match,” he said. “The brilliance, switch hitting, power and speed of Crawford, against the power and experience of Canelo. That’s a can’t-miss fight. It belongs in a stadium.”

Crawford, not surprisingly, agreed.

“There’s a reason why I’m here,” he said. “I’m the best. That’s why everybody’s gonna come watch on September 12.”

How’s this for a co-main event?

A guy who hadn’t fought in nearly 800 days defended a title that he’d won, relinquished and regained without fighting, against a guy who’d been awarded and subsequently stripped of the relinquished title thanks to an injured opponent and promotional snafus.

Ahhh… boxing.

For the record, 41-year-old Badou Jack, the long inactive former protégé of Floyd Mayweather Jr., wound up beating tough luck rival Noel Mikaelian in a competitive but often tedious 12-rounder to keep the WBC cruiserweight title he’d held but not defended since February 2023.

It was a 29th win in 35 fights for Jack, a former Olympian who’s been a pro since 2009 and had made previous title claims of one worth or another at 168 and 175 pounds. And it could pave the way for a unification fight or perhaps the renewal of past chatter for a Canelo fight.

Jack landed 122 of 369 shots to 153 of 670 for Mikaelian, but two judges were clearly more impressed with the older man’s heavier blows and awarded him with 115-113 tallies on two cards to offset the dead-even 114-114 count from a third judge.

Exciting? Perhaps not.

But effective? Absolutely.

Former 154-pound champion Jaime Munguia got his career back on track after a disastrous 2024, using a newfound commitment to defense and offensive discipline in beating rival Bruno Surace over 12 rounds by a compelling if not entirely combative decision.

Munguia began last year having won 42 straight and he ran it to 43 with a defeat of John Ryder in January but lost for the first time four months later against Canelo Alvarez and finished the year on the wrong end of a significant upset, a sixth-round KO by Surace in December.

It was the sort of result that necessitated an immediate reversal, and the 28-year-old got it by adhering to the instructions of new trainer Eddy Reynoso, who also works with Alvarez.

Munguia landed 105 punches, including 45 to the body, and swept the scorecards with tallies of 116-112, 117-111 and 117-111.

“It was really important to me tonight to come back from that,” Munguia said. “More than anything we’ve been working on mentality. We’re really happy with the way we’re progressing. It was about being calm, understanding distance.”

Martin Bakole was on the fast track to heavyweight stardom.

Or at least to being an interesting and well-paid novelty.

The behemoth from Congo, who weighed more than 280 pounds for a battering of fallen prospect Jared Anderson last summer, punched well enough and had an interesting enough appearance to be a thing.

Then he made a business decision to step in on short notice to face Joseph Parker and it hasn't been the same since.

Bakole was battered and stopped in two rounds in that fight in February and hadn't regained his mojo as of Saturday, when he went 10 rounds to a majority draw against once-beaten Nigerian export Efe Ajagba.

Two judges called it five rounds apiece to overrule a third who saw it for Ajagba, six rounds to four.

Bakole was effective early in pressuring his foe and landing shots along the ropes, but he wasn't able to land a decisive blow and Ajagba was more successful with movement and jabs as the fight progressed.

"Mighty" Mohammed Alakel is a month shy of age 21, and, after just four pro fights, is nowhere near a world title or even a significant rise toward world-class competition.

But considering where he’s from, he’s doing just fine.

The Saudi-born lightweight is fundamentally sound, fights well behind a jab and works well to the head and body, and he used each of those skills on the way to a fourth straight victory as a pro—which came via decision over Alexander Morales in the card’s opener.

Alakel is one of just six pro fighters in his home country and has been schooled well enough by British trainer Joe Gallagher to impress analyst Sergio Mora, a former world champion at 154 pounds who later challenged for a second-tier title at 160 against Danny Jacobs.

“I really like Alakel,” he said. “He pretty much has a little bit of everything and he’s very sharp.”

It was a sixth straight loss for Morales, 19, who fell to 6-14-5 as a pro in his first fight beyond either Mexico or the UK, but, unlike others in his trial horse classification, has never been knocked out.

Main Card

Canelo Alvarez def. William Scull by unanimous decision (115-113, 116-112, 119-109)

Badou Jack def. Noel Mikaelian by majority decision (114-114, 115-113, 115-113)

Jaime Munguia def. Bruno Surace by unanimous decision (116-112, 117-111, 117-111)

Martin Bakole drew with Efe Ajagba by majority decision (95-95, 94-96, 95-95)

Richard Riakporhe def. Kevin Nicolas Espindola by TKO, 3:00, Round 4

Brayan Leon def. Aaron Guerrero by referee's decision (60-54)

Marco Verde def. Michel Polina by TKO, 1:34, Round 1

Mohammed Alakel def. Alexander Morales by referee's decision (60-54)