Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is returning to action for his traditional date on Cinco De Mayo weekend, but it won’t be under any of the other circumstances a majority of fans would have preferred – or even accepted.

Alvarez will have a chance to pluck a super middleweight title from William Scull on May 3 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to become a two-time undisputed champion in the division. Yet the matchup only pushed off potential fights with Terence Crawford, Dmitry Bivol or David Benavidez, all of which seem to hold far more interest than a bout with the relatively unknown (and untested) Scull.

A 32-year-old Cuban who now fights out of Berlin, Germany, Scull can hardly be characterized even as overlooked – the truth is, almost no one was looking his way before this fight was made. The match with Alvarez seemed to be a marriage of convenience – an opportunity for Canelo to again align the belts, stave off ring rust and start making good on his recently signed deal.

He reportedly signed a four-fight deal with Riyadh Season, with the Scull bout being the first in the arrangement. After defeating Jaime Munguia and Edgar Berlanga last year, Alvarez, a 34-year-old from Guadalajara, Mexico, seemed to entertain all ideas for his next foe – including junior middleweight titleholder Terence Crawford, a matchup that was brought up again at Thursday’s event now that it appears Crawford won’t fight until September. Alvarez was quick to respond:

“I like to be active,” Alvarez said. “We don’t have a fight in September – we have this fight, and then we will see.”

Alvarez, 62-2-2 (39 KOs), is no longer the bright-eyed young face of boxing who took over after the stars of Floyd Mayweather Jnr and Manny Pacquiao dimmed. Alvarez is now in the final act of his career, but he doesn’t seem very interested in boxing’s next generation or a passing of the torch. That leaves him caught in between. Crawford is one of the few great fighters from Alvarez’s era who is both capable of moving up in weight to challenge him and of helping sell the fight. Meanwhile, Bivol has already defeated Alvarez, and Benavidez would likely require the maxed-out Canelo to move up in weight. Once considered the No. 1 fighter in the world, Alvarez is now regarded by many as calculated, selective and only interested in matchups that push more chips to his side of the table.

Scull, 23-0 (9 KOs), would seem to fit that mold. But while nothing about him is particularly alluring, he has an amateur background and Cuban style that could present more of a challenge than many expect for Alvarez.

“I am focused 100 per cent on William Scull,” Alvarez said. “He has a lot of skills – but there is no other Canelo out there.”

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.