Trap games are common in team sports.

For Canelo Alvarez, the Ring, WBA, WBC, and WBO super middleweight champion, little-known IBF titleholder William Scull is a trap opponent, especially as Terence Crawford waits in the wings for a September showdown.

Scull can upset the applecart should he shock the face of boxing 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.

If the near minus-4000 betting favorite Alvarez cruises past the Cuban, Crawford enters as the next challenger.

Crawford is already preparing to face Alvarez and embracing his underdog role, recently telling The Ring in an extensive interview that the size disparity won’t matter when he moves up two divisions for the clash.

Alvarez isn’t putting too much weight into Crawford’s comments.

“Everybody is confident until they go in the ring with me,” Alvarez told The Ring in an interview. “It's going to be different, of course. He's a great fighter. But I am a great fighter, too. We're going to see that fight happen to see who is the best.”

The bout with Crawford can’t come to fruition if Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) doesn’t get past Scull (23-0, 9 KOs), who holds the IBF title only because Alvarez vacated it last year, allowing him the chance to fight and beat Vladimir Shishkin in a lukewarm bout.

Scull’s fight before Shishkin was a year ago on the Alvarez-Jaime Munguia undercard, fighting in a non-televised eight-rounder.

“Look, when I fought Dmitry Bivol, nobody knew him either,” said Alvarez. “I know I need to be focused. William Scull is a good fighter. I need to be ready for everything because you never know. But it's nothing new to me.”