The only victories of note for Scull came in his last two fights in 2024 when he outpointed American journeyman Sean Hemphill in an eight-round bout (on the Alvarez-Jaime Munguia pay-per-view undercard) before edging out the unbeaten Shishkin in a less-than-inspiring performance.

Canelo Alvarez won the decision. William Scull acted indignant. But the real winner after 12 stupefyingly dull rounds between the two guys holding claims to elite status at 168 pounds was neither the Mexican superstar nor the Cuban runner. It was Terence Crawford, presuming he stayed awake at ringside.