One of the most complicated fights of Canelo Alvarez’s career came against Erislandy Lara in a 2014 junior middleweight matchup.

Alvarez edged Lara via split decision despite being outlanded by the Cuban, 107-97. Heading into the clash, Lara promised to take Alvarez "to Cuban boxing school.”

Alvarez’s next opponent in Berlin-based Cuban William Scull also is from the same school, and he’s tasked with giving the face of boxing a hard lesson on May 4 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on DAZN PPV (May 3 in North America) when they square off for the undisputed super middleweight title.

“The Cuban style is not comfortable for any fighter,” Alvarez told The Ring. “They are very slick and very good fighters. But when you are at this level, you need to adapt yourself to anything, and I am about to do it.

“I think I am different now [compared to when I fought Lara]. I fought everybody and every style. I have the experience. It's going to be difficult at the beginning of the fight. But then I am going to find a way to fight. It's going to be an interesting fight for sure.”

Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs), the Ring, WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight champion, held all of the 168-pound titles after stopping Caleb Plant in 2021 until last year when he vacated the IBF title to face Edgar Berlanga instead of the little-known Scull (23-0, 9 KOs). Alvarez's move allowed Scull to fight for the vacant IBF title and beat Vladimir Shishkin.

The Plant fight is also the last time Alvarez scored a stoppage win. Although Alvarez has dropped his last four foes in Berlanga, Jaime Munguia, Jermell Charlo and John Ryder, all heard the final bell.

“No [I don't need a knockout against Scull],” said Alvarez. “I just need to win whatever the way it is … It's very difficult to knock out somebody when your opponent doesn't want to fight and they want to survive. And they are 20 pounds heavier than me in the fight. It's a little bit difficult. You don't need to knock out opponents to win convincingly. That's why there are 12 rounds to see who is the best. It's boxing.”