Unified super-middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez has ruled over the 168lb scene for over four years now, dominating each and every opponent in contests at his natural weight-class. However, there is one former dance partner of Alvarez’s who remains hopeful of a rematch, believing his battle with the pound-for-pound sensation to be worthy of a revisit.
After knocking out Sergey Kovalev for the WBO light-heavyweight title, Canelo dropped back down to the super-middleweight division for a showdown with WBA champion Callum Smith, with the vacant WBC crown also on the line.
The Mexican superstar beat the Brit down in a one-sided unanimous-decision win before quickly running over Avni Yildirim in a mandatory defence and then halting Smith’s compatriot Billy Joe Saunders to add the WBO belt to his collection.
Finally, to complete a legendary 11-month super-middleweight takeover and become boxing’s sixth four-belt undisputed champion, Canelo would have to overcome undefeated IBF title-holder Caleb ‘Sweet Hands’ Plant.
Ten rounds of competitive action ensued in Las Vegas but it was in the eleventh where the quality, endurance levels and killer instinct of Canelo shone through and were on display for the boxing world to see. Twice he dropped the tired American, with the second of those knockdowns signalling the end of the contest and cementing Alvarez’s name amongst the greatest from a nation with a proud history in the fight game.
Speaking with four-time super-middleweight champion Carl Froch on the Froch on Fighting YouTube Channel, Caleb Plant outlined his desires to face Canelo once again
“I think that me and Canelo would make for a great rematch. We did 800,000 buys in our last one – which I think is the third highest PPV since 2019 and his highest pay-per-view since I think the Triple G [Gennadiy Golovkin] II fight. So I think that the rematch would be my dream fight.”
However, whilst Plant understandably craves a second bite of the Canelo cherry, his foe will instead take on Edgar Berlanga on Saturday night in a defence of what is now the unified super-middleweight title, after Canelo was stripped of Plant’s old belt. In that same interview with ‘The Cobra’, Plant made his thoughts on that match-up clear when asked to describe Berlanga in three words.
“Not. Good. Enough.”
As for Plant, he too will appear on Saturday night as he fights undefeated Trevor McCumby on the Canelo-Berlanga undercard on Saturday September 14th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Plant will be hoping to bounce back from a second defeat in his last three fights as he ends an 18-month spell of inactivity against his fellow American, seeking to prove that he remains a world title threat and possibly aiming a kickstart a run that culminates in another meeting with Canelo.
Also on the bill is Erislandy Lara, who many fans believe was robbed on the scorecards when he lost a split-decision to Alvarez in 2014, he will attempt a second defence of his WBA middleweight title against Danny Garcia – who has not fought in over two years.
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