Canelo-Plant experts' picks: Will Canelo Alvarez become undisputed or can Caleb Plant pull off the upset?
-
Andres FerrariESPN Editor
Canelo Alvarez is the consensus No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, has won titles in four different divisions and has been a unified champion in three of those four weight classes. But on Saturday he'll aim for something he has yet to accomplish in his career thus far: Becoming an undisputed champion.
Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 KOs), 31, of Guadalajara, Mexico, faces IBF super middleweight champion Caleb Plant on Saturday, looking to become the first undisputed champion in the division in the four-belt era (Showtime PPV, 9 p.m. ET). Alvarez defeated Callum Smith in December 2020 to win Smith's WBA super middleweight belt and the vacant WBC title. He then added the WBO title with an eighth-round TKO win over Billy Joe Saunders in May.
Plant (21-0, 12 KOs), 29, of Nashville, Tennessee, won his title with a decision victory over Jose Uzcategui in January 2019 and has since made three successful defenses. Alvarez has been looking for this kind of challenge throughout his career.
"The goal is to be an all-time great. I'm so proud of the journey I've taken to achieve that. I'm not going to stop until I've tried my best to reach that goal," Alvarez said at a news conference on Wednesday. "I'm excited to become undisputed champion and to make history. That's what I want.
"Only five male fighters in the history of boxing have accomplished becoming undisputed champion. I want to be the sixth. That's the only thing on my mind."
Although he's a champion and undefeated, Plant is a heavy underdog. That, however, hasn't affected his mindset ahead of the bout.
"People are going to say what they're going to say. But I get the final say and I can't wait to prove everything in the ring," Plant said. "If I listened to the doubters, I wouldn't even be here.
"I've been the underdog before. It's a place I like to be. I like people rooting against me. It gives me extra motivation, but when you're fighting for undisputed status, you don't need much more motivation than that."
Can Alvarez add another chapter to his legendary career, or is Plant ready for a big upset?
We asked former opponents of Alvarez and Plant, plus boxing insiders, for their take on the fight and their predictions.
Editor's note: Responses have been edited for brevity and clarity.
Bernard Hopkins, former two-division champion and member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame
How Plant wins: Plant has to do what he does best: Stay mobile, punch from angles, throw off balance, throw a lot of combination punches -- things like that. Most people say Plant has no power, or at least not enough to beat Canelo, but he has fought a lot of good fighters in the super middleweight division in matchups where he was not the power guy. Maybe he doesn't have the power to be in that division, but he is undefeated and he has made it look easy at times. He's beaten everybody pretty easily. Plant fights at his opponent's level, and he always rises to the occasion. He has great angles to keep Canelo offset. Canelo is relentless; he's got a good chin. Once he feels he can get through you he will get through you. But it was the same with Jose Uzcategui, and Plant still beat him pretty easily.
X factor: Caleb's footwork. He's done pretty well in the super middleweight division against good opponents with his footwork and movement, but If Canelo is able to neutralize Plant's footwork, he will win the fight.
Prediction: I think Canelo is going to win, but the fight is going to be much closer than people think. A decision win for Canelo.
Liam Smith, former junior middleweight champion, lost to Alvarez in 2016
Instagram and
Twitter to stay up to date with all of our latest boxing news.
How Plant wins: He's a great fighter, I've known him since the amateurs, good speed, decent power, but he really hasn't fought anybody that you can say "wow." I think the only top guy he's beaten is Jose Uzcategui for the title. The rest of his wins came against average guys or below average. And when you fight someone like Canelo, you definitely have to give the edge to Canelo. Plant has speed but he needs to be a little faster, a little slicker against Canelo if he wants to win. Do more feints, keep the distance and pray that Canelo doesn't catch him. Move, move, move and throw punches.
X factor: I saw some clips of Plant sparring against Zhanibek Alimkhanuly and Alimkhanuly was hitting him with some punches -- and he's not as slick or as fast as Canelo is. And if he's getting hit like that in sparring, and I know it's only sparring, Canelo is smarter, faster, way stronger than Alimkhanuly. When I saw that, I said no way Plant wins. I like Plant, he's my boy, but no way. Plant has to be on his A-game and I don't see that from Plant.
Prediction: I see Canelo stopping Plant in the eighth, ninth, 10th round. Victory by KO.