MEXICO CITY (AP) — Canelo Alvarez knows that fighting in the Middle East for the first time entails changes to his routine.
Food will not be one of them, though.
The Mexican boxer said on Friday he is taking only Mexican chili peppers to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to spice up his usual meals ahead of his title fight against Cuban-born William Scull for the undisputed super middleweight crown on May 3.
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Alvarez’s strict diet in a fight buildup includes chicken, steaks and fish, all mixed with vegetables. But he believes it will taste more like home with some Mexican flavor.
“When it comes to food I’m adaptable, I’m not the one who travels with a lot of things because you might not find it where you are going,” he told the Associated Press in a video call. “But I will bring some ‘chile de arbol’ (a long red chili pepper with spicy flavor) so my food can taste a lot better.”
The 34-year-old Alvarez, a four-weight world champion and unified champion in three of them, owns the WBA, WBC and WBO titles at 168 pounds. He was stripped of the IBF belt last July when he declined to make a mandatory defense against Scull. He’d owned that title since November 2021 when he defeated Caleb Plant.
Scull won the vacated belt by beating Vladimir Shishkin by unanimous decision last October.
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Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) is the odds-on favorite against Scull (23-0, 9 KOs).
“I’ve always dreamt of playing in other countries. Now it is time for Saudi Arabia,” Alvarez said.
“The IBF’s champion, his style is complicated and I have to adapt to it. It is an important fight because I want to be undisputed (champion) again.”
Pundits say their fight is a steppingstone for Alvarez to meet Terence Crawford in September. Before Scull there were rumors of a fight against Jake Paul.
The 37-year-old Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) made his 154-pound debut in August by beating Israil Madrimov and will need to move up two more weight classes to face Alvarez.
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“There’s nothing set with Crawford yet but it’s reachable and what everybody wants. But for now I’m just focusing on Scull,” Alvarez said. “I need to stay focused on Scull.”
Alvarez will travel to Riyadh three weeks ahead of the fight to adapt to a different time zone. He also plans to run at night instead of in the mornings to try and avoid the worst heat.
“When we fight in Las Vegas, I usually arrive the week before. That was not as complicated as it will be now,” he said. “The time zone will be different and also the weather, but we will be ready.”
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