Boxing Social’s Luke G. Williams is running the rule over an octet of fighters aiming to topple Saul ‘Canelo’ Álvarez. Today he examines what might happen if the Mexican was to meet IBF super-middleweight champion Caleb ‘Sweet Hands’ Plant…
Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s dominant performance at super-middleweight against Callum Smith in December has left the boxing world pondering whether any man alive between 160lbs and 175lbs has the capability to topple the Mexican master craftsman.
Few expect Avni Yildirim – Canelo’s WBC mandatory challenger and next opponent – to be the man to depose him. But how might other top contenders from middleweight to light-heavyweight fare against the phenomenon from Guadalajara?
Caleb Plant (20-0, 12 KOs)
The likeable Nashville-born and Las Vegas based Plant has one of the more tragic but compelling back-stories in boxing. Brought up in impoverished circumstances, he lost his baby daughter Alia aged just 19 months in 2015 and his mother Beth in 2019, after she pulled a knife on a police officer and was shot.
Surmounting such adversity – Plant maintains – has bred the inner strength he needs to stay focused and overcome all and any obstacles in the ring.
“I’ve been through everyone’s worst nightmare and I’ve come out the other side,” he told Yahoo Sport’s Kevin Iole in 2019. “I’ve taken many, many, many defeats throughout my whole entire life.
“The important thing is, I’ve always come out on the other side. I’ve never been defeated [in the ring]. I don’t fold and surrender for nobody. That’s just a fact. I don’t care where any of these guys have fought. I don’t care where they’ve come from.
“I do not fold or break for anybody. When I fight these dudes, I know I’ve been through things they haven’t been through. I’ve been through things they couldn’t go through. I buried my daughter on one Thursday and I was in the gym the next Thursday. I was crying, tearing up and couldn’t make it through with a straight face, but I was there.
“I’ve survived and I’m stronger than any of these dudes could possibly be because of the dark places I’ve been. And that, I know, will sustain me and carry me.”
Should he overcome former title holder Caleb Truax this weekend, then the 28-year-old Plant will be in an ideal position to land a mega-fight with Canelo this autumn in what could be a unification contest for all four major super-middle belts.
Photo: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom USA.
By then, WBA/WBC champ Canelo’s two-fight deal with Matchroom Boxing will have been completed via fights against Yildirim in February and – most likely – WBO title holder Billy Joe Saunders in May.
That will leave only the PBC-affiliated Plant standing between Canelo and undisputed status at 168lbs.
If Plant does land the Canelo fight then it will vindicate his decision – made late last year – to pass on the opportunity to face the Mexican in December, a chance that then passed to Britain’s Callum Smith.
“With just five weeks’ notice which is a four-week training camp, my manager Luis de Cubas felt it would be pretty quick as far as an official camp goes,” Plant told News 3 of Las Vegas when asked to explain why he turned down the fight.
“I was ready and willing but I respect my manager’s decision on that. At the end of the day, we’ll remain patient. I’m telling you guys the Canelo fight will happen. Canelo is telling you guys the fight will happen.”
Many observers believe that Plant possesses several of the attributes required to beat Canelo – he punches hard enough to get the Mexican’s attention and maintains a consistently high activity level in the ring, having thrown 707 punches in 12 rounds against Jose Uzcategui in a 2019 IBF title-winning bout and 612 in 10 rounds defending against Vincent Feigenbutz in his last fight in February 2020.
Plant also moves well, has good technique and – as you would expect given his ‘Sweet Hands’ moniker – throws fast and effective combinations. He is also a big man, having fought at light-heavyweight in the amateurs, with none of the question marks over lifestyle and dedication that hover – for example – over fellow 168-lber David Benavidez.
If Plant can stay focused, then it is possible he could frustrate the slower and more leaden-footed Canelo in the way that Floyd Mayweather and, to a lesser extent, Erislandy Lara did through smart counter-punching and effective movement.
But would he be able to score enough points to topple the great Mexican Truth be told, I can’t see it. Although Plant impressively dominated the world-class Uzcategui, the remainder of his professional ledger shows few names of note.
Canelo is a far superior fighter now compared to when he lost to Mayweather and had trouble subduing Lara. His ring intelligence and experience of top-level combat would see him secure victory, even if he dropped a few rounds along the way of what would most likely be a cagey, chess-match of a contest.
Prediction: Canelo by unanimous decision.
Previous Canelo fight forecasts:
Canelo vs Gennady Golovkin III
Main image: Stephanie Trapp/TGB Promotions.