William Scull has branded Nigel Benn’s account of the infamous Majorca sparring session with his son Conor ‘a lie’.
The Ring’s No.5 rated super-middleweight was putting the finishing touches on the most important training camp of his life in the mountains of Spain when his name was mentioned in London by 61-year-old Benn.
The two-weight world champion had suggested that his son Conor, who was getting ready to face Chris Eubank Jr at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, had forced Scull to ‘quit’ during a sparring session on the island of Majorca.
The story went that the pair had agreed to spar for 10 rounds but Scull, who was said to be sitting on the ropes between rounds, ‘quit’ after eight.
The 32-year-old Germany-based Cuban was in camp ahead of Saturday night’s undisputed super-middleweight clash, where he puts his IBF title on the line against Ring No.1 Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, who holds the Ring, WBA, WBO and WBC belts. The fight will
air on DAZN PPV.
Scull smiles when the name Conor Benn is put to him by The Ring on Monday at the fight hotel in Riyadh and welcomes the opportunity to give his side of the story.
“The truth is that we sparred,” Scull says. “I had just come over to Majorca from Granada.
“I had just come from the mountains and I was at a different stage in my preparation than him. It’s sparring, it’s not a real fight so it’s nothing. It was a good spar and a good experience.
“But what came out from the father of Conor Benn was not true. We had good rounds, maybe in some of them he touched me more and in some I touched him more, that’s sparring.
“But I heard the way his father told it and it’s not true. That I took my gloves off, that’s a lie, that I quit, that’s a lie.
"Many things happened there and I do not want to make excuses but I also had a new headguard which kept slipping around. These things happen in sparring but it doesn't matter in an actual fight.
“We actually asked them for a second session of sparring but they said no, they didn’t want it. So it is what it is. This has actually made me focus more so it has turned into a good thing for me.
“Thank you to them.”
Scull faces Canelo at the ANB Arena, Riyadh in the main event of Saturday night’s Fatal Fury card in the first defence of his IBF title that he won via unanimous decision over Vladimir Shishkin in October.