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William Scull, the Cuban boxer who will face Saul "Canelo" Alvarez on May 3 in Saudi Arabia, arrives for his fight with some doubts in his preparation. Recently, during a series of training sessions in Mallorca, Spain, Scull sparred with Briton Conor Benn, but what was expected to be a productive practice ended in a surprise: the Cuban gave up early, specifically in the eighth round.
This version was confirmed by Nigel Benn, Conor's father, who did not hesitate to highlight his son's superiority during the session. According to him, in the first four rounds both fighters were evenly matched, but after that, Scull began to give in to the pressure, which culminated in his surrender in the eighth.
Nigel Benn's words
In a press conference, Nigel Benn shared more details about the session, stating that "in the first four rounds, they were evenly matched," but it was in the fifth when Scull showed signs of wear and tear, to the point of sitting on the ropes during breaks. "This was William Scull, the IBF champion. And then came round eight and Tony (Sims) and I looked at each other and thought he gave up, he just stopped. He couldn't go on after eight rounds, we were supposed to do 10," Benn commented
This testimony made it clear that, for him, his son had dominated an IBF world champion, and he said so with total confidence: "My little one just damaged the IBF world champion and I'm so confident that this doesn't get to the fourth round".
Scull team's reaction and denial of the facts
After the controversy sparked by Nigel Benn's statements, William Scull's team was quick to react. Ingo Volckmann, the Cuban's promoter, came out to deny what happened, clarifying that the sparring session had been agreed for eight rounds, not 10. In an interview with The Ring, Volckmann said that Benn's versions were incorrect and that Scull's decision to rest on the ropes was not unusual
He added that this type of behavior is common in training, both in sparring and in real fights. Despite this controversy, the Cuban remains firm in his preparation, as he is already in Saudi Arabia for the final phase of his conditioning before facing "Canelo" Alvarez.
With the controversy over Scull's performance in his training, his fight against "Canelo" Alvarez in Saudi Arabia is full of uncertainty. While some analysts and Conor Benn's father claim that the Cuban is not at his best, Scull's team defends his preparation, stressing that sparring is part of the training strategy and should not be taken as an exact reflection of what will happen in the ring.