By Barry Holbrook: Canelo Alvarez and Caleb Plant are finalizing a fight for next month on December 19th. Canelo (53-1-2, 36 KOs) says he doesn’t care if the match against IBF super-middleweight champion Plant (20-0, 12 KOs) is on the 19th or 25th of December on Christmas. He wants to fight this year.
As of right now, December 19th is the date that they’re working on. This will be Canelo’s first fight since leaving DAZN and Golden Boy Promotions. DAZN likely would have liked to have shown Canelo vs. Plant, but it wouldn’t have been doable because Caleb is Premier Boxing Champions.
“I don’t care if it’s Dec 19th or Christmas. What I want is to fight this year,” said Canelo to BoxAzteca7.
It’s a risky fight for Canelo that he may very well lose, as he’s facing arguably the best boxer in the 168-lb division in 28-year-old Plant. The 5’8″ Canelo will be giving five inches in height to the 6’1″ and four inches in reach to Plant.
Canelo won’t have much time to prepare
If Canelo faces Plant on December 19th, he’ll have a little over a month to prepare, and that’s not much time.
You got to give Canelo massive respect in taking on Plant because this is the most difficult opponent he’ll have faced since Floyd Mayweather Jr. Unlike Gennady Golovkin, Plant is capable of adapting, and he’s got the size and power to beat Canelo decisively.
Caleb brings all the best qualities that we saw from Erislandy Lara, but he’s a superior inside fighter, hits harder, and is more willing to trade. Lara lost the fight to Canelo because he spent too much time moving in the second half of the content, and not enough standing and fighting.
In Canelo’s three fights on DAZN, he beat Rocky Fielding, Daniel Jacobs, and Sergey Kovalev. The fans were lukewarm about those bouts because none of them were seen good enough to beat Canelo heading in. It’s a different story going up against Plant, as he’s someone that can potentially beat Canelo and take the judges out of the equation.
Alvarez’s rivalry with GGG is likely over
If Canelo plans on fighting on Showtime now on Premier Boxing Champions shows, it could signal the end of his rivalry with Gennadiy Golovkin.
The Kazakstan fighter signed a contract with DAZN that will take him past his 40th birthday. The problems that Golovkin had in beating his last opponent Sergey Derevyanchenko suggests that his career as a major player will be over by the time his contract runs out with DAZN. Canelo won’t fight him at that point because he would no longer be relevant.
Alvarez fighting Plant could prove to be the start of his own demise as a major player, as Plant has the boxing skills to beat him the way that Floyd Mayweatther Jr did in 2013.
Canelo didn’t look good against Serey Kovalev, and he barely beat Daniel Jacobs. If Jacobs had shown more courage early in the fight, he’d have defeated Canelo.