Canelo Alvarez takes a lot of pride in his accomplishments. But what keeps his heart beating with joy is the smiles on fans' faces. This weekend, however, not a single grin could be found.

On Saturday night, Alvarez stepped out of his comfort zone and took on William Scull in Saudi Arabia. Belts and money don’t have the same motivating factor for the 34-year-old, but fighting abroad in front of a new fanbase does.

William Scull, his opponent on the night, looked the part. He didn’t have a recognizable name but muscles protruded from every part of his body, he carried a calm demeanor and held tightly to his IBF super middleweight title. By and large, Alvarez was hoping that his man would fight. But, to his frustration, Scull danced and moved all night long.

There were times when Alvarez (63-2-2, 39 KOs) threw his hands up in the air while bearing a look of disgust. There were also moments when he laughed. With all of the super middleweight marbles on the line, he couldn't believe that Scull refused to stand and bang with him.

Still, although it wasn’t his best performance, Alvarez did just enough to earn the victory. But while he’s happy to call himself a two-time undisputed champion, he’s aggravated by how things played out.

“I feel great, I win,” said Alvarez to FightHub TV. “I tried to put on a great show but to put on a great show, you need both fighters but at the end of the day, a win is a win.”

The chemistry to produce a fight of the year candidate wasn’t there with Scull but Alvarez is hoping that his next opponent won’t employ the same game plan.

Once Scull was shuffled out of the ring, Terence Crawford sauntered through the ropes. The Ring’s No. 1 ranked junior middleweight is skipping to the front of the line and faces Alvarez on September 12th at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Crawford has always been malleable. He has the ability to box a clean and careful fight but is also mean-spirited enough to hurt and put you away. Considering what he just went through, Alvarez is hoping that Crawford won’t morph into William Scull 2.0 come fight night.

“I hope not,” continued Alvarez. “I hope not. The people deserve a good fight.”