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Undisputed super middleweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez may have his next opponent. AGON Sports & Events, promoter of William Scull, has stated that the IBF has ordered a fight between Alvarez and Scull, with the fighters' teams having four weeks to come to an agreement and avoid the fight going to a purse bid.

Scull (22-0, 9 KO) is a name that comes out of nowhere if you've followed the last year of chatter of men Alvarez could face in the ring. However, Scull defeated Evgeny Shvedenko in July 2022 in a fight that was a final title eliminator for the IBF belt. That victory established Scull as a mandatory challenger, but his name didn't carry the same weight as other fighters who were situated as mandatories for Alvarez by other sanctioning bodies, including David Benavidez (WBC) and David Morrell (WBA), who were both considered Alvarez's stiffest tests at 168 pounds.

After the WBC and WBA both didn't enforce the mandatory obligations for Benavidez and Morrell, both men gave up on waiting for a shot they believed would never come and moved up to light heavyweight.

Alvarez defeated Jaime Munguia earlier this month and seemed to shoot down the idea of a future Benavidez fight again, claiming he would have to be presented with a $200 million offer to make the fight happen. Alvarez cited Benavidez's tendency to add as much as 25 pounds between the weigh-in and fight night, despite Alvarez having moved up twice in his career to fight light heavyweights and even repeatedly teasing the idea of testing the waters at cruiserweight.

Other potential opponents for Alvarez for that May date included Jermall Charlo after Alvarez had defeated Charlo's twin brother, Jermell, in September, and Edgar Berlanga, who would have been one of Alvarez's weakest opponents to date.

Alvarez still seems to have interest in a Berlanga fight and Berlanga was somehow shot from No. 7 to No. 1 in the WBA rankings on the strength of a win over unheralded Padraig McCrory in February. After Morrell announced his move to light heavyweight, the WBA announced they would create a secondary title for Morrell's June fight with Radivoje Kalajdzic and that Berlanga was now Alvarez's mandatory challenger.

Whether Alvarez's team attempts to claim the WBA mandatory should be next in the rotation to land the Berlanga fight he wants and avoid a much smaller fight with Scull or attempts to pay Scull to step aside is still to be seen. Scull would have to accept step-aside money in the latter scenario.

Alvarez could also choose to do nothing and potentially be stripped of his IBF championship, losing his undisputed status at 168 pounds. It wouldn't be the first time such a thing has happened between the fighter and the sanctioning body. Alvarez was stripped of his IBF middleweight title in 2019 when he failed to come to an agreement to fight then-mandatory challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko.

Of course, the option does exist for Alvarez to simply fulfill his championship duties and fight a challenger who has held mandatory status for two years.

More boxing news, rumors

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