Earlier this year, the IBF took away Canelo's 168-pound title because he wouldn't fight Scull. That's how Scull got the vacant IBF title. Now, Canelo still has the WBC and WBO belts, while Scull holds the IBF title.
Canelo's had a long career, starting 15 years ago in Jalisco. He's only lost twice as a pro. His first defeat came against Floyd Mayweather back in 2011. Mayweather's now retired. The second loss was more recent, in 2022, when he moved up to light heavyweight (175 lbs) to fight Dmitry Bivol.
That Bivol fight didn't go as planned for Canelo. He told Ring Magazine:
"I was 50% of my skills there, without condition, nothing, because I couldn't run and I couldn't throw punches or sparring, I had like a month without sparring because of my hand."
He added:
"I couldn't run either, because of my knee, so knee and hand injuries, but even with that, I had a good fight, a very good fight, but I know it wasn't enough."
Even though he lost, Canelo's not bothered by it. He sees it as a learning experience:
"It doesn't bother me, you know, I mean to myself 'hey, you learned something from that fight, what things you shouldn't do again' and I have that in me as saying 'you need to show that you're a better fighter than him'."
Looking ahead, Canelo's got his sights set on a rematch with Bivol. He said:
"I hope to have the opportunity to have that rematch with Bivol, it's the only fight at 175 that I really want."
But first, he's got to deal with Scull and try to get back all the super middleweight titles. The fight on May 3 will be a big step towards that goal.