Super middleweight titleholder William Scull is, at least in theory, one punch away from becoming an undisputed champion. Yet the overarching theme leading up his May 3 fight against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is this:

Who is William Scull?

Alvarez-Scull will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where all four super middleweight titles will be on the line and Alvarez aims to become a two-time undisputed champion in the division. He first accomplished the feat in 2021.

Scull, 32, born in Cuba and now training out of Berlin, Germany, has spent much of his career out of the sight of fans in the United States. His first memorable moment for hard-core followers was a unanimous decision over Evgeny Shvedenko, which made him Alvarez’s mandatory. After two more fights, Scull found himself defeating Sean Hemphill on an off-television bout on the bill of Alvarez’s defeat of Jaime Munguia last May. In October, Scull won a unanimous decision over Vladimir Shishkin. That bout has been hotly debated, as many fans and pundits favored Shishkin as the winner.  

“I feel real good right now,” Scull said through a translator at Thursday’s press conference. “I rely on my fundamentals and I prepare really well in a dignified way for all my fights.” 

That quote more or less sums up Scull. He is professional, polished and devoid of anything sensational. Maybe that’s why he hasn’t found a huge fan base in the United States. Nothing about him screams of the sort of clickbait behavior that social media rewards.

Scull also possesses some of the traits of an opponent who once troubled Alvarez in the past – Erislandy Lara. Like Scull, Lara came up in the Cuban amateur system, and although he fought Alvarez back in 2014 – practically an athletic lifetime ago – he gave Alvarez issues with his movement and elusiveness.

Under Scull’s polite and courteous demeanor, there is a great deal of confidence.

When asked about fighting in Riyadh, for example, Scull’s answer was simple and direct: “I have fought in four different countries, so this is nothing new to me.”

Alvarez, a 34-year-old from Guadalajara, Mexico, has risen up the ranks to become perhaps the biggest name in boxing. At the start of the decade, he was considered the best fighter in the sport, until a loss to Dmitry Bivol seemed to derail his momentum.

Alvarez, 62-2-2 (39 KOs), turned professional in 2005, while Scull, 23-0 (9 KOs), turned pro in 2016. Although Scull is just two years younger, he would seem to have more tread left on his tires than Canelo. At some point, age imposes limits on even the greatest athletes.

If Scull finds a way to surprise on Cinco de Mayo weekend, there will no longer be a question about who he is. It will be something more along the lines of “How far can he go from here?”

Said Scull: “My message to everyone is, everything is possible.”

Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.