There is still a possibility that boxing’s pound-for-pound No.1 Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez will face Caleb Plant next, according to the Mexican star’s promoter Eddie Hearn.
Earlier this week, it appeared that the super-middleweight unification clash was dead in the water after an impasse in the latest round of negotiations.
But Hearn says that Canelo-Plant could still happen with WBA Super light-heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol an intriguing, and arguably more attractive opponent, waiting in the wings for Alvarez.
“From our side, I’ve been kept up to speed with the situation with Eddy Reynoso and kind of left the lawyers to deal with that fight,” Hearn told ‘The DAZN Boxing Show’. “We know the undisputed fight is one that [Canelo] wants to make. Obviously, it wasn’t able to get over the line for September 18 and now we’ve got to look at either the alternatives or remain working on that fight. So, I don’t know whether the fight is dead. Perhaps there’s some more work to do on that, but certainly it now looks unlikely for September 18.”
Hearn has been told by WBC, WBA Super and WBO 168lbs champion Canelo that he is still the Mexican star’s promoter after their latest two-fight deal expired in May. Canelo’s manager and trainer Reynoso has, meanwhile, been leading the negotiations for the proposed fight with IBF champion Plant. But Canelo-Plant, should it still happen, would be promoted by Al Haymon’s PBC and broadcast on Fox Sports Pay-Per-View in the US and not on Hearn’s network DAZN.
“No, I’m not out of it at all. But our proposal was to do the fight on DAZN,” continued Hearn. “We had a proposal with the team to do the fight with the PBC [on FOX Sports PPV], which was, in principle, accepted by Saul. And I was happy for him to do that because I want him to take the undisputed fight. I’m not the lead promoter of the show. I’m not involved in putting that fight together. What I am on is on the Canelo Alvarez team.
“I’m not gonna start throwing my toys out of the pram and worrying about ego, about letting Canelo Alvarez take an undisputed fight. He told me I’m his guy. He told me I’m his promoter. I’m happy with that. I don’t think that anyone would be jumping through hoops from [the Plant] side for me to be involved. So I’m staying representing Canelo Alvarez. I don’t wanna get involved. I’m not making comments on Caleb Plant’s comments [regarding Canelo’s demands].
“That was the beauty of being a network free agent, the ability to do that [negotiate with Plant]. And we couldn’t get that fight on DAZN so we moved forward with that direction [on Fox Sports]. Unfortunately, that hasn’t materialised for September 18. We’ll see what happens.
“I spoke to Saul on Tuesday night. I spoke to Eddy Reynoso last night. We talked about some other opponents. Of course, I’m still sure that there’s some options to pursue, in terms of seeing if the Plant fight is possible, perhaps on another date. But that’s where we’re at right now.”