Not Your Ordinary Beef… Not your Ordinary Tea…Not Your Ordinary Cac…Canelo v Plant Sho PPV Nov 6th

Who wins??

  • Canelo easy KO

    Votes: 52 51.5%
  • Canelo UD

    Votes: 28 27.7%
  • Plant UD too slick

    Votes: 16 15.8%
  • Plant by KO

    Votes: 4 4.0%
  • Sad Flabavidez

    Votes: 6 5.9%

  • Total voters
    101
  • Poll closed .

Derek Lee

#thunderup
Supporter
Joined
Jun 20, 2014
Messages
36,148
Reputation
4,191
Daps
109,179
Bradley's breakdown: How Caleb Plant can upset Canelo Alvarez
Nov 2, 2021
  • Tim BradleyOn Saturday, Canelo Alvarez faces Caleb Plant for the undisputed super middleweight title at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Alvarez, ESPN's No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer in the world, has never held all four belts in a division. As the 31-year-old enters one of the biggest fights of his career, how does he intend to add Plant to his long list of vanquished opponents? And how can Plant, the undefeated IBF super middleweight champion, go about trying to shock the world?

ESPN boxing analyst and two-division world champion Timothy Bradley Jr. breaks down the keys to this fight, the strategies both fighters will likely employ and the X factors that could swing things in either direction.

What makes Canelo Alvarez great? How has he been able to pick up more and more knockouts as his career has progressed, even as he has moved up in weight? Alvarez has transitioned his career in recent years, and he feels like a throwback to the champions of another era.

Sugar Ray Robinson fought 12 times in 1965, occasionally fighting two fights a month. Alvarez isn't close to that, of course, but there's a lesson to be learned there. When a boxer fights more often, he begins to accumulate important elements that help at the highest levels of boxing -- things like elite conditioning and sharpness.

Each time a fighter fights, he gathers information both about his opponent, and also himself. Going up against elite competition as Alvarez has over the years, he has developed his killer instinct. Alvarez is able to recognize tiny things in a fighter's body language, the way someone breathes, moves and reacts, and those experiences have heightened his ability to finish a fighter, now more than ever.


He has mastered the art of deception. When he is marching forward with his high guard, he forces his opponents to panic to try to get to their punch, allowing his highly trained eyes to locate openings for his vicious counters. And when he's in reverse, he creates an illusion by simulating a loss of control or vulnerability, making the opposing fighter feel brave and in control. Opponents might think to themselves, "I've got the champ backing up," but in reality, Alvarez is luring them into a trap.

Alvarez alters these tactics back and front sometimes, combining the two simultaneously. He uses a lot of misdirection through hand and foot feints to set up his offense as well, making his opponents cover up in front, or react with offense, leaving themselves exposed. During this process, Alvarez examines his opposition and based on the response, sets up one of his lighting quick counters.

What is it like to actually step into the ring with a fighter of the magnitude of Alvarez?

I've shared the ring with two legendary fighters, Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez. It's nerve-racking during the buildup, to a point you can't sleep. Your senses are on the edge and your nervous system is on overload, filling you with anxiety.

Fights are won or lost in the 24 hours before you step into the ring. You have to fight against doubt, and the worry of failing. Then, once you're inside the ring, you can almost feel the aura coming off a special fighter as you stand 20 feet away from them, waiting for that opening bell. I've even lost some of the sensation in my legs -- that's why you see most boxers jumping around during the ring announcements.

Will the animosity in the lead-up affect things on fight night?
The bad blood between these two is real. Punches were thrown at a news conference, and injuries transpired. Early blood was shed. My concern for Plant is not that he'll take that animosity to heart, and get overly aggressive. It's that the difficulty of not being able to shut off his mind will add to a lot of things he already has to manage in this fight.

It could also weigh on the preparation for the fight. Overtraining is a huge concern, especially because Plant tends to fade late in fights. And with that tendency, you have to question the preparation that Plant and his team have under the best of circumstances, let alone when Plant needs to be at his full potential heading into Saturday and then fight the perfect fight. As opposed to Alvarez staying busy, if Plant fought more often than three times in two years, he would have a better understanding of his body and what's needed to make him tick.

What can Plant learn from watching Alvarez's fight against Billy Joe Saunders?
For a lot of people who watched Alvarez-Saunders, it might have felt like there were some moments when Saunders could've broken through. He started strong, winning the first round, and he was down only 3-2 through the first five rounds on all three judges' cards.

But it was an illusion -- there was no weakness in Alvarez's fight against Saunders. A battle is won over a 12-round stretch, for 36 minutes. Alvarez's objective is to wear down his opponent by pressuring, blocking and striking, which is fairly straightforward. He'll do that by moving, slipping and striking. But the true greats, like Alvarez, will occasionally give an opponent hope to suit a certain strategy, and then take it all away at the right moment.
 

Derek Lee

#thunderup
Supporter
Joined
Jun 20, 2014
Messages
36,148
Reputation
4,191
Daps
109,179
What's Alvarez's approach for this fight?
Canelo Alvarez, left, slapped Caleb Plant during a face-off before a news conference on Sept. 21 in Beverly Hills, California. Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
Alvarez has mastered every weapon in boxing. He has a full-punch arsenal, from a basic jab to lead left hooks, straight rights, uppercuts and body shots. It makes him dangerous and capable of a knockout every second of every round. The two punches I see that will make their mark on Plant are the left hook to the head and body, plus the right hand to the head. When he's under pressure, Plant defaults to a position known by many experts as "no man's land."

From an Orthodox stance, to get stuck in this position, a fighter widens their base past shoulder width apart. That causes them to transfer 75% of their weight onto the back foot. They drop levels by bending the back leg and leaning slightly back, and position their head near the back foot while showing minimum body exposure.

I've seen many fighters divert to this position subconsciously, including myself. We think we are safe, but in reality we are not. This position keeps a fighter beached and immobile, only allowing you to throw an occasional up jab. Defensively, it also allows you to be timed and countered with left hooks and right hands.

What's Plant's path to pull off the upset?
Plant's left hand is the key to victory. His jab usage is also extremely important. He must show a variety of looks when sitting in front and throwing those different jabs. The vertical jab is a great weapon to use to split Alvarez's heavy usage of the high guard. The power jab should be implemented to push Alvarez back. Plant should alter the tempo and cadence on his jab to keep Alvarez off-balance and hide his own offense.
 

Derek Lee

#thunderup
Supporter
Joined
Jun 20, 2014
Messages
36,148
Reputation
4,191
Daps
109,179
Canelo-Plant experts' picks: Will Canelo Alvarez become undisputed or can Caleb Plant pull off the upset?
  • i

    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.
 

Derek Lee

#thunderup
Supporter
Joined
Jun 20, 2014
Messages
36,148
Reputation
4,191
Daps
109,179
Joe Cortez, former boxing referee, member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame since 2011

How Alvarez wins:
He has experience in his favor, much more experience than Plant. And of course he has the better mechanics, in defense and offense. That loss that he had against Floyd Mayweather made him a better fighter. It was a blessing in disguise. He wouldn't be where he is today if he didn't suffer that loss. That experience is going to be key against Plant as well, when it comes a time to make adjustments during the fight. Canelo has been working a lot of body punches during his career and he will use them against Plant. Canelo is going to be the smaller fighter of the two, in height and reach. When I fought bigger guys, I would weave my way in with body shots because when you kill the body the heads die. And that will be an advantage for Canelo, because he's a very good body puncher.

How Plant wins: He's a world champion at 168 pounds, but keeping a title is harder than winning a title. He has a good left hook and a good right hand. Now he's coming across an opponent like Canelo, who's very strong, with very good punching power, has a good chin and has all the experience. Plant has to try to outthink Canelo, but do it calmly, don't get too excited, because if he gets too excited, or spends a lot of energy in the first part of the fight, he won't have anything left toward the end. He has to pace himself accordingly, do everything possible to edge rounds and not to lose rounds at the beginning. He needs to keep a pace that allows him to be there in the later rounds. And if things didn't go well for him in the first part of the fight, maybe he still has the energy to make a run at the end. But that takes a lot of experience, a lot of training and discipline. The key for him is not to get hit with body shots, and if he is, he needs to adjust, say, "how can I avoid those shots," and go to Plan B.

X factor: Preparation. Conditioning. Canelo knows how to make adjustments and will be prepared for a Plan B if needed. If Canelo gets cut, or knocked down, he will have a Plan B. "Do I continue fighting this way or change?" Some trainers don't work on that, but I'm sure Canelo, with the experience that he has, and the trainer that he has, will be prepared for anything that can happen in that fight and adjust quickly.

Editor's note: There is no prediction from Cortez as he will be in charge of instant replay for the Nevada State Athletic Commission for the fight.

Vincent Feigenbutz, former super middleweight titlist, lost to Plant in 2020

How Alvarez wins: Canelo has to go into Caleb's space and push him and put him in position to hit him with body punches. That's what I was missing when I fought Plant. Canelo has it and he is an excellent boxer.

How Plant wins: Caleb Plant is a good boxer. I fought him and know him well. Caleb has to work on throwing punches constantly against Canelo, hitting permanently, and immediately moving away ... and repeat that for 12 rounds to score points.

Prediction: I see Canelo clearly winning. He will finish Plant in the later rounds.

ESPN's Mike Coppinger contributed to this report.
 

((ReFleXioN)) EteRNaL

RIP MR. SMOKE
Joined
May 1, 2012
Messages
19,176
Reputation
7,043
Daps
90,496
For some reason I have a feeling Ward doesnt like Canelo too much :heh:..saying little slick shyt here and there
And then he gets upset when people talk about a potential fight :mjlol:.....dude is basically doing everything he can to stir up interest. Even said canelo and reynoso would never call him out...."but I'm retired":whoa:........I love ward but he knows what he's doing. It actually started after canelo knocked out kovalev and he started throwing subs about kov being washed and how it wasn't better than his win. But before then he was always a big canelo fan :yeshrug:......at the end of the day dude is always gonna have that competitive spirit :manny:
 

Creflo ½ Dollar

Superstar
Joined
Aug 6, 2015
Messages
4,865
Reputation
-1,736
Daps
16,327
Reppin
GA
How did plant get elevated and put on a pedestal without really doing too much :dwillhuh:

People saying he better than BJS, Callum Smith, and Danny Jacobs..now don’t get me wrong he may be but there isn’t anything to indicate that at this point.

That PBC hype train came thru and crushed the buildings :wow: Or maybe that up-jab is going to be disruptive as they say it is :leon:
 
Top