The super middleweight king is ready to make his comeback. And even though it is not the fight that we expected, at least it will once again put him at the top of the division, at least in terms of title. On May 3, 2025, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez will have his first bout of the four-fight deal he signed with the Saudis against the IBF super-middleweight champion William Scull in an attempt to become the undisputed champion once again.

With the IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO, and Ring Magazine super-middleweight titles on the line, the stakes are pretty high. However, no one believes that Scull could be a legitimate threat to Canelo’s reign. One need only look at his 23-0 record in comparison to Canelo Alvarez’s 62-2 record. Furthermore, the majority believe that it is only a warm-up bout ahead of the highly anticipated Terence Crawford fight in September in Las Vegas. However, former six division world champion Oscar De La Hoya believes that the fight won’t be that easy for the Mexican superstar.

Oscar De La Hoya: Don’t know the guy

On Tuesday, De La Hoya accompanied Ryan Garcia at the press event for his comeback fight on May 2. Coincidentally, Garcia will return to the squared circle just a day before the Scull-Alvarez fight. After the press event in New York, iFLTV’s Colm McGuigan had a conversation with the Golden Boy regarding various aspects of boxing. As the conversation continued, McGuigan asked De La Hoya about Canelo Alvarez and his upcoming fight against William Scull. Even though it looks like the Guadalajara native might have the most exciting two years in boxing going forward, the May 3rd fight doesn’t excite the 52-year-old promoter at all. De La Hoya exclaimed that he “seriously cannot say anything about it. I don’t know who Scull is.”

The Los Angeles native made sure to let everyone know that he wasn’t joking. “I do not know who Scull is and I’m a boxing guy. I swear I’m not just saying this because it’s Canelo and I don’t like Canelo. I’m saying this because I do not know who Scull is,” he stated. As he has never seen El Indomable in action, he can’t predict how the fight will go down.

However, he knows that Scull is Cuban. “And when I hear Cuban, you better be careful because he’s gonna have a lot of movement. He’s gonna have a lot of footwork and that gives Canelo trouble,” De La Hoya declared. So, does that mean Canelo will have a hard time fighting Scull?

A difficult fight stylistically for Canelo Alvarez

Canelo’s former promoter then reflected on how the 34-year-old has always had trouble against the guys with good side-to-side footwork like Erislandy Lara and Floyd Mayweather. “Anybody who moves like Erislandy Lara, everybody who moves like Floyd Mayweather, who goes side-to-side boxing Canelo, who’s on his quicksand feet, is going to beat him,” he stated.

De La Hoya’s revelation holds some truth, given that Canelo struggled against both Mayweather and Lara. While he lost against Mayweather, he didn’t have a particularly good outing against Lara, a Cuban, against whom he won via a split decision, his only one in over a decade. So, even though Golden Boy can’t predict the fight, he knows Scull, ” just being a Cuban is gonna give him difficulties because he boxes.”

In addition to what De La Hoya predicted, William Scull is far more motivated for this fight. He has something to prove, and a win against Canelo Alvarez would propel him to stardom overnight. And we know that the Mexican is no stranger to an upset loss. Do you think Scull has what it takes?