By Jim Maltzman: Canelo Alvarez says Errol Spence Jr could be a future opponent if he moves up in weight, and he also sees IBF super middleweight Caleb Plant as an option soon.
(Photo credit: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom).
Alvarez (53-1-2, 36 KOs) states that he could come down to 160 for a fight against Spence (27-0, 21 KOs), who would be moving up two divisions from 147.
IBF/WBC welterweight champion Spence says he’s interested in fighting Canelo when he moves up. Errol currently has two to three fights remaining at 147 before he moves to 154.
He wants to face Manny Pacquiao and possibly Terence Crawford before going up to junior middleweight. Obviously, Spence would need to win those fights for him to be a viable option for Canelo in the future.
Canelo vs. Spence will be a huge fight on pay-per-view in 2021 or later, as long as both guys are still winning. It’s a match-up that can’t afford to wait too long with marinating, though.
We don’t know what we’re going to see from Errol when he eventually moves up to 154 and starts tangling with bigger fighters with power similar to his own.
Canelo interested in Spence fight
“Well, obviously, it’s an exciting fight,” said Canelo to Fighthub when asked if he’d be interested in fighting Errol Spence. “Errol Spence is a great fighter, and if he wants to go up in weight, then that would be a great fight. Yeah, middleweight is something we could still do. Yes, we could go down,” said Canelo.
It makes sense for Canelo to go down in weight to 160 because he won’t receive credit from the boxing public if Spence goes up three divisions to face him at 168. Spence can gain a lot from fighting Canelo, as it would take his career to the next level.
Errol has the kind of talent that would give Canelo trouble with his pressure, great jab, and ability to throw many punches. Spence is a great inside fighter, and he’d be able to hold his own with Canelo in that territory.
Golovkin fell apart against Canelo because he was unable to get in close and fight on the inside. Golovkin was forced to keep it at long range, and he would throw a power shot; Canelo frequently countered him.
If GGG had been able to stay in close, he might have been able to wear Canelo down. That’s what Spence would likely be trying to do against Canelo, and it’ll interesting to watch how well he does.
Caleb Plant, a future opponent for Alvarez
“We were in serious conversations with him [Caleb Plant], but unfortunately it didn’t happen,” said Alvarez about a fight between him and IBF super-middleweight champion Plant.
“But fortunately, because this other one [Callum Smith] happened. He is #1 at 168 pounds.
“So in the future, it’ll probably happen,” Canelo said of a fight between him and Plant. “That is our campaign to unify all the titles, and obviously, he holds one of the titles, so that fight will probably happen,” said Canelo.
The unbeaten IBF super middleweight champion Caleb Plant (20-0, 12 KOs) could prove to be a more difficult opponent for Canelo to deal with than Callum Smith, considering the versatility that the Tennesse native has.
Plant, 6’1″, isn’t quite as tall as the 6’3″ Callum, but he can adapt better, and he’ll make Canelo think. Whatever game plant Canelo comes in with for the fight, he will need to change it during the fight. Otherwise, Plant will beat him.
Of all the super middleweights in the division, ‘Sweet Hands’ Plant is the most like Floyd Mayweather Jr. He’s so smart and with skills that Canelo hasn’t seen since his loss to Mayweather.
If Canelo doesn’t get picked off by one of the super middleweight champions before he meets up with Plant, this is a fight he could lose if he doesn’t improve his game.
Canelo wasn’t surprised at the size of Callum Smith
“No, we knew his height, so it wasn’t news for us,” said Canelo when asked if he was shocked at how big Callum Smith when he stood face to face with him on Tuesday. ”
This doesn’t generate anything from what we did. I’m a boxer with a lot of experience and a lot of capacity.
“Yes, it was a bit difficult but thank God, we did have Frank Sanchez with us, a heavyweight and about a foot taller, and also Diego Pacheco, a great person to spar with and the same height,” Alvarez said about his preparation for the 6’3″ Callum.
“Thank God, we had Frank Sanchez, a great prospect, and he’ll be a future world champ.”
The size difference between Smith and Canelo during the face-off was shocking, as the two looked like they were two divisions apart. Part of the season for that is because Callum should be fighting at 175, but he’s still able to drain down to 168.
You can make an argument that the reason Smith didn’t look good in his last fight against John Ryder was because of the grueling ordeal that he went through to make through to get down to 168.
If you saw Smith’s physical condition at the weigh-in, he looked sickly with both eyes sunken in and his face with a skeletal appearance.
As long as Smith makes the weight without hurting himself this Friday, he’s going to have an excellent chance of overpowering Canelo.
Alvarez will be cautious in attacking Smith’s body
“Yes, that’s right but we have to be cautious because he has a really good counter-punch and a right upper-counter punch, so we have to be very cautious in doing that,” Canelo said when told that the 6’3″ Smith’s body will be a target for him.
Canelo, 30, will try and get on the inside the way John Ryder did against Callum and work him over with body shots. Ryder got away with fighting the way despite Smith nailing him with huge shots in each round.
Some of the massive punches that Callum barely missed likely would have ended the fight early. Callum barely missed with several homerun punches that had knockout written all over them.
Canelo is an excellent body puncher, and his plan is obviously to try and get on the inside to wear Callum out with shots to the midsection.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw2cpjc5fd8
Callum is a very good inside fighter as well, and he punches with arguably better power to the body than Canelo. If Canelo chooses to fight Smith on the inside, he could be sorry for it.