By Aragon Garcia: Canelo Alvarez and Caleb Plant are to begin negotiations for a possible December 19th unification fight at 168 on pay-per-view. According to Mike Coppinger, the negotiations will commence once Canelo (53-1-2, 36 KOs) is free and clear from his other contracts.
Plant, 28, will be a tough opponent for Canelo to deal with. The 6’1″ Plant is unbeaten and has looked excellent lately with wins over Vincent Feigenbutz, Mike Lee, and José Uzcátegui.
IBF super-middleweight champion Plant (20-0, 12 KOs) and WBA champ Canelo (53-1-2, 36 KOs) both want this fight. The winner will be the unified IBF/WBA champ.
If Canelo, 30, wins, he’ll likely go after the eventual winner of the vacant WBC super-middleweight title or WBO champ Billy Joe Saunders.
Canelo vs. Plant is possible for Texas, which would take place in front of a live crowd. For Canelo, this will be his third contest at 168. His two previous matches at super middleweight were against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and Rocky Fielding.
It’s been two years since Canelo last fought at 168. In his last fight, he defeated WBO light-heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev in November 2019.
Plant has a hell of a chance against Canelo
“Shout out to Canelo taking on Caleb, one of the young guns out of Vegas that I respect,” said trainer Bill Haney to Fighthype. “If he [Canelo] gives him a shot, I would be elated.
“I also got to say that you got to go back and see [Jermall] Charlo. That’s a mandatory,” Haney said about Canelo needing to face Jermall. “So get by Plant, and then go see Charlo. Caleb will walk in, and you’ll underestimate him.
“He’s been beating the s*** out of guys in Las Vegas in the Mayweather gym for a long time. I got a deep respect for what he’s doing and for coach Larry Wade has been doing with him as well.
“Ever since they got together, they’ve been phenomenal. I give him a great chance,” Haney said when asked what chance he gives Plant to defeat Canelo.
“He’s a boxer. I’m always for the boxer. He’s 100 percent the boxer, slick and constant professional. He comes in shape. That’ll be a hell of a fight,” said Bill about Canelo vs. Plant.
Caleb has a chance against Alvarez, yes, but I wouldn’t characterize it as a “hell of a chance.” I’d say it’s more like a ‘slim’ chance of beating Canelo, and that’s not an insult to Plant. For him to be even considered as having a chance against Alvarez is a compliment.
Bill Haney: Caleb will beat Canelo up
“Caleb is a young, hungry champion,” Haney continued. “For Canelo to step up and give Caleb a chance at it, for a fight fan, we’re the winners in that contest. Caleb is going to beat Canelo up.
“If Canelo were to get past Caleb, I told him to fight Charlo. That would be crazy,” Bill Haney said about a fight between Jermall Charlo and Canelo in Texas.
“I would love to fight there or at home. They’re two different types of fighters, which would make for a hell of a fight, which is why I would like to see the fight. They don’t have the same styles,” Haney said of Jermall and Canelo.
“What I see strong about Canelo and what I see strong about Charlo are two different things. Let me be politically correct and say a 50-50 because of what Canelo has done and what Charlo brings.
“Canelo is a hell of a fighter, but I would like to see him go out like a true warrior and go out with everyone,” Bill said in wanting Canelo to face the murderer’s row of fighters.
“Just go out. Put your name in the hat for a few fights, and see who steps up. That’s what I want with Canelo’s legacy to be defined as.
“He [Canelo] started out at such a young age, and he got in there with TBE [Floyd Mayweather Jr], which took a hell of a fall from him and his team to do that.
“Now, to be the head of the sport, we definitely want to see him run the table if you can,” Bill said of his wish for Canelo.
Bill Haney obviously likes Plant a lot, so you can understand why he’s pulling for him to beat Canelo. Let’s just hope that Caleb agrees to fight with Canelo because he had the opportunity to face him recently after his win over the German fighter Vincent Feigenbutz. Still, he decided he needed to rest up.
If Plant chooses not to fight Canelo this time, the superstar should move on and focus on other fighters.
Devin gives Plant a great chance of beating Canelo
“I want him to get the fight,” said Devin Haney to Fighthype about Caleb Plant potentially facing Canelo on December 19th.
“If he gets the fight, I think he does good. It’s a winnable fight for him. I’m surprised that he’d fight a guy like Caleb in general, but I’m happy if it’s true. I hope he [Caleb] gets the opportunity because he deserves it.
“I think Canelo is a different fighter now at this point in his career, So I couldn’t really compare that Canelo to the Canelo now. And I just think he’s a totally different monster. Everything,” Devin said when asked, ‘what makes you think Plant can beat Canelo.
“He’s got speed, power, ring generalship. He’s a complete fighter. I like Canelo. He’s one of my favorite fighters today, but Canelo can’t live with my boy. Canelo stays in the gym, though,” said Devin.
Plant has looked good lately with his wins over Feigenbutz, Lee, Uzcategui, and Rogelia Medina, but none of those fighters are in the same league as Canelo.
Caleb might find it difficult to do the same things against Canelo that he did against those fighters, but it should be fun to see if he can do it. You can say about Plant is he’s beaten a lot of good fighters, but no one great or anywhere near Canelo’s talent.
Haney talks Canelo Alvarez vs. Jermall Charlo
“That would be crazy because of the styles,” Haney said of Canelo and Jermall Charlo. “That makes for a dangerous fight.
Yeah, body frame and everything, yeah,” Haney said in acknowledging that the 6’0″ Charlo is bigger than the 5’8″ Canelo. “He’s [Canelo] been tested time and time again.
“I’m not saying he wins the fight, but you’ve got to give him the respect because he’s Canelo. Now that Lomachenko has lost,” Haney said when told that Canelo is a really well-respected fighter.
WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo might need to move up to 168 if he wants to fight Canelo because his immediate plans are super middleweight. There are more opportunities for Canelo at super middleweight than at 160.
It would be in Jermall’s best interests to get a couple of good wins under his belt first before he tries to get a fight against Canelo.
Beating Sergiy Derevyanchenko recently was a good start for Charlo, but he’s going to need to do a lot more than that if he wants a fight against Canelo. Jermall should try to beat these fighters to earn a title shot against Canelo:
- Daniel Jacobs
- Demetrius Andrade
- Edgar Berlanga
- David Benavidez
- Callum Smith
- Billy Joe Saunders
Right now, it’s too premature for Canelo to throw a bone to Charlo by giving him a title shot at super middleweight that he hasn’t yet earned.
If it’s not asking too much of Charlo to beat the six fighters from the above list to earn a fight with Canelo, he should start working on that list asap.
