CANELO ALAVREZ returns to the ring against Caleb Plant in a massive super-middleweight undisputed title fight in just over a two weeks’ time.Alvarez was last in action back in May, when he TKO’d Billy Joe Saunders in the 8th round of their title clash in Texas.
Canelo Alvarez added the WBO title to his collection in MayCredit: Reuters
Plant has had to wait a little longer for this fight, having not fought since January, when he outpointed Caleb Truax.
The Nashville fighter won his first world title in 2019, beating Venezuelan Jose Uzcategui, and has since defended it three times.
Alvarez is on a hot streak of wins following his draw with Gennady Golovkin back in 2017.
He’s since beaten Golovkin, Rocky Fielding, Daniel Jacobs, Sergey Kovalev, Callum Smith, Avni Yildirim and Saunders, becoming a four-weight world champion in the process.
Plant’s IBF title at 168lbs represents the final piece of Alvarez’s jigsaw, which could see the Mexican crowned as his country’s first ever undisputed champion.
Alvarez and Plant had originally planned to clash back in September, but negotiations fell through before a solution was found weeks later.
The fight will be held on Showtime pay-per-view in the U.S., which will be the first time Alvarez hasn’t fought on DAZN stateside since 2018.
A win for either fighter would crown the second undisputed champion in 2021, after Josh Taylor picked up all the belts at 140lbs in his win over Jose Ramirez back in May.
When is Canelo vs Plant?
Canelo Alvarez’s big fight with Caleb Plant will take place on Saturday, November 6.
The fight will emanate from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
There should be close to 15,000 fans in attendance at the huge event.
Canelo vs Plant will get underway in the early hours of Sunday, November 7 for fans in the UK, with ring-walks set for around 4am GMT.
What channel is it and can it be live streamed?
Alvarez’s clash with Plant will be shown live on BT Sport Box Office in the UK.
You can live stream the action from the BT Sport Box Office app, which is available for download onto your mobile or tablet device.
The event will set you back £19.95.
Canelo vs Plant FULL CARD
Canelo Alvarez vs Caleb Plant – super-middleweight
Anthony Dirrell vs Marcos Hernandez – super-middleweight
Rey Vargas vs Leonardo Baez – super bantamweight
Elvis Rodriguez vs Juan Pablo Romero – super-lightweight
What has been said?
Alvarez said: “You are not on my level and you will see on November 6. You don’t want to fight now, I promise you.
“We come from nothing and we worked hard to be here. For somebody to lie and talk trash about us, that upset Eddy. It is what it is though. We just have to show everyone who we are on November 6.
“Caleb might be on the same level as Saunders and Smith, but he’s not on my level. I respect that he isn’t here to back down. You can see from today that this is definitely going to be a good fight.”
Plant said: “I know only one thing better than proving people right, and that’s proving people wrong. I’ve been doing that my whole life. As soon as I stepped on the stage, people started talking about what I can’t accomplish and what I can’t do.
“Where I come from, there is no boxing community. There was no other pro I could look to and say that if he can do it, then I can do it. All I had was my mind and my heart.
“I don’t do this to be famous or to get attention. When I first started, it was just me and my dad. No one thought I’d be standing here today.”
Caleb Plant holds the IBF world title at super-middleweightCredit: Getty
Who could Canelo Alvarez fight after Caleb Plant?
Assuming Alvarez beats Plant and ends his streak with all four 168lbs belts in his grasp, the opportunities to have mega-fights from thereon would be near endless.
Alvarez is a huge star in the U.S. and Mexico and can continue to fight on pay-per-view, as a free agent, for the rest of his career, if he wanted.
If Alvarez were to stick around with PBC and Showtime for a while, a big-money fight with Jermall Charlo, the current WBC middleweight champion, would make sense.
There’s also former champion at super-middleweight and rising star David Benavidez to possibly contend with.
With DAZN, however, there’s still a potential trilogy fight with Golovkin to explore, with the Kazakh fighter still feeling begrudged about the results in their first two fights.
Otherwise Alvarez could revisit the light-heavyweight division, where’s previously been the WBO champion after beating Kovalev in 2019.
Current WBC and IBF champ Artur Beterbiev would arguably represent the toughest test of Alvarez’s career, as he boasts a menacing 100% KO ratio, the only titleholder in boxing to have that under his belt.
Or there’s WBA champion Dimitry Bivol, a route that seems the more likely, given his relationship with promoter Eddie Hearn, whom Alvarez is closely aligned with. More
