Canelo Alvarez is right to avoid the farce of fighting Jake Paul

Was it good news or bad that Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez rejected the opportunity to fight brazen bigmouth YouTuber Jake Paul in May?. Instead of boxing the upstart influencer in Las Vegas as part of the Cinco de Mayo celebrations in a couple of months, the 34-year-old Mexican will fight William Scull in Saudi Arabia to unify the super-middleweight titles. Love him or loathe him – and most genuine boxing fans have a healthy disrespect for pompous Paul – he isn’t going away for the foreseeable future.

Boxing has always been littered with brazen, loudmouth, over the top characters – Muhammad Ali, Bernard Hopkins, Tyson Fury and Carl Froch have never been afraid to shoot from the lip faster than they release a devastating blow but they all had immense ability packed into explosive fists. Paul is an unbelievable salesman who knows how to rake in plenty of dollars but he’s deluded if he really believes he has genuine ability.

Sure Canelo entered into negotiations to get in the ring with him in Sin City but the truth is there’s no way in the world he would have lost to a guy whose last fight was against a washed-up 58-year-old Mike Tyson with previous victories coming against a former NBA player and similar no-hopers. It’s not credible to call them professional fights and when he did come up against someone of that ilk he lost to Tommy Fury. If Alvarez had taken the easiest pay day of an astonishing career which has seen him win 62 times and draw twice in 66 fights, he would have won without Paul laying a meaningful blow.

Scull is a little-known and underrated, unbeaten fighter from Cuba and could give Canelo problems as he has had difficulties in the past when facing southpaws but it’s more than likely he will hand his IBF crown back to Alvarez who will hold it alongside his WBA, WBC and WBO belts. It’s the opening outing in a four-fight deal with promoter Turki Alalshikh which will be followed by a sumptuous showdown with the outstanding Terence Crawford in September.

The 37-year-old American has won numerous world titles at different weights but such is his opponent’s immense quality, Alvarez will be the hot favourite. As it is, he is just 4/11 with Paddy Power and Betfair to win inside the distance against Scull but it may be worth having a small flutter on Canelo winning on points given he has had difficulties against southpaws in the past. • Ludvig Aberg is the golfer to side with in this week’s Genesis Invitational which has been switched from the Riviera Country Club to Torrey Pines because of the recent fires which swept Los Angeles.

Sweden’s Ryder Cup star is over a virus which derailed him recently and will love smashing drives down the spacious fairways at the California course. He is worth an each-way bet at 22/1 with bet365, who will pay out on eight places, while South Korean Sungjae Im is 28/1 with the same firm after finishing tied fourth at the Farmers Insurance last month. Taylor Pendrith is enjoying a decent start to the season and is 28/1 while the last of our bet365 each-ways is Tommy Fleetwood who could make a splash at 30/1.

• Gerwyn Price, fresh from a Players Championship success, is 8/13 with most firms to beat Nathan Aspinall in week two of darts’ Premier League in Glasgow. Luke Humphries, who beat Chris Dobey in the opening night final in Belfast last Thursday, is 5/1 with Sky Bet, Paddy Power and Betfair to win their renewal in Scotland. Arrow MORE: Jake Paul issues furious response to ‘owned slave’ Canelo Alvarez after fight collapse.