As former undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez takes on IBF titleholder William Scull in Riyadh, the spotlight isn’t solely on the fight. Instead, a wave of social media chatter has emerged, not about Canelo’s performance, but about legendary ring announcer Michael Buffer, with many fans calling for his retirement.

You see, what happened is—after both fighters made their way into the ring strutting to catchy music, Buffer seems to have made a small mistake. National Anthem for Canelo’s Mexico was played, and the same was done for Scull. However, when it was Scull’s turn, instead of saying ‘National Anthem for Cuba,’ Buffer ended up saying ‘National Anthem for Germany’ before the Cuban anthem was sung.

Why did Michael Buffer make the mistake?

Following this, Ged I. Goodman shared a post thanking Buffer for his work, noting, “Give it up to 80-year-old Michael Buffer. [He] was in New York yesterday. Now in Riyadh and announcing Canelo’s fight at 6:20 AM local time.” It’s worth noting that while Scull is from Cuba, he currently lives, trains, and is a resident of Germany.

Not to mention, Buffer was in New York for the Ryan Garcia vs. Rolly Romero fight on Friday night, and likely flew in to Riyadh to announce the fight, which might have caused some stress-related confusion for Buffer. Regardless, fans seem to have focused more on Buffer’s blunder rather than the work he is putting in. 

The William Scull blunder leads to retirement calls for Buffer

Despite the minor nature of the mistake, people quickly began nitpicking and even called for Buffer’s retirement. One user wrote, “Did Michael Buffer just say the national anthem for Germany 😭😭😭😭⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️” As mentioned before, since Scull is from Germany, that in combination with stress could have caused the mistake. 

Another user had something similar to say. The user commented, “Did Michael Buffer just announce the national anthem for Germany?” However, moments before he mistake, Buffer had introduced Scull, noting he trains in Germany, which could have added to his confusion.

Someone else made a mistake of their own. The user claimed, “Michael Buffer saying ‘now the anthem for Germany’ then the Puerto Rico anthem plays is the highlight of the night.” Even though Puerto Rico and Cuba share some cultural similarities, Scull is from Cuba. 

The next user seems to have gone a bit too far, asking Buffer to retire. The user wrote, “Michael Buffer dawg, it’s time to retire.” However, Buffer might not agree. 

One user continued the mocking by highlighting Buffer’s mistake. The user commented, “Bro said the national anthem of Germany.” Notably, compared to other mistakes made in the past, this one was rather negligible. 

Having said that, it appears Michael Buffer’s simple mistake has made him the talk of the town. However, do you think it was that big of a deal?