By Dan Ambrose: Negotiations between Canelo Alvarez and Caleb Plant fell apart on Tuesday over contract disagreements over their September 18th undisputed clash at 168 on PBC on FOX PPV. Plant was supposed to get a career-high of $10 million, whereas Canelo was also set to get his highest purse of $40 million.
The deal fell apart over a stalemate on contract disagreements, according to Mike Coppinger. It’s pretty obvious why Canelo didn’t agree to the contract. PBC likely wants him to agree to a three-fight deal to fight Plant, who is like fish bait to reel in the big tuna Alvarez.
Although the negotiations are said to be dead right now, there’s an excellent chance that Canelo will come back to the table to resume talks.
He wants this fight just as much as Plant does, as he feels that becoming the undisputed champion at 168 will validate him in some way.
Plant, 28, has a lot to say about things he’d agreed to, but we do not hear what led to Canelo’s fallout.
For Alvarez to walk away from the negotiations, it suggests that it was something significant that he wasn’t pleased with because he wants Plant’s IBF super middleweight title.
Plant (21-0, 12 KOs) maintains that he agreed to everything that Canelo asked for in the contract for the fight, and he doesn’t understand what the issue is with him.
Plant suspects, maybe it’s not about money or legacy for Canelo (56-1-2, 38 KOs), but perhaps something else.
According to ESPN, Canelo wanted and was given a one-way rematch clause that would work in his favor. So if Canelo loses, he gets a rematch with Plant, but not the other way around. If Plant loses, he can’t force a second fight.
Frankly, it’s not going to do much for Canelo because he’s not been fighting the good enough opposition during his quest to become the super middleweight champion to impress the fans. They never asked for Canelo to fight Billy Joe Saunders, Rocky Fielding, or Callum Smith.
“Canelo was offered the highest guarantee of his career: He was set to make $40 million-plus Mexican TV rights and his Hennessy Sponsorship. Then they wanted upside of gate and PPV revenue,” said Plant to ESPN.
“They asked for a rematch when they lose. No problem, you can have the rematch as well; I just want to fight,” said Plant.
We do not hear Plant talk about whether his management at PBC wanted Canelo to agree to a three-fight deal with them.
Canelo’s promoter Eddie Hearn said a couple of weeks ago that PBC wanted him to agree to a three-fight deal in exchange for being given the green light to fight Plant.
If Canelo agreed to the deal, he would be fighting Jermall Charlo, David Benavidez, and possibly Errol Spence Jr. It’s quite possible that the deal-killer for the Canelo-Plant fight was PBC asking for a three-fight contract.
Plant didn’t say anything about PBC wanting Canelo to agree to a three-fight deal, but that’s definitely the type of thing that would cause him to balk at signing.
You can argue that Canelo would love to fight Jermall Charlo and Errol Spence, but David Benavidez is someone that he likely had no interest in fighting. That’s a young lion that can potentially beat with his size, high work rate, power, and youth.
At 24, Benavidez isn’t someone that Canelo can wait out four or five years until he gets old before finally facing him, which many boxing fans believe is what the Mexican star did with Gennadiy Golovkin, Sergey Kovalev and is about to do with Artur Beterbiev.
“One that is absurd: If I get injured or sick, then he gets a late replacement for the same amount of guaranteed money, but if he gets sick or injured, then we got to wait for him,” Plant said.
That’s how the business goes when you’re dealing with a superstar like Canelo. He’s going to use his A-side power to his benefit, and I’m sure if the shoe was on the other foot, Plant would do the exact same thing as Canelo.
As young as Plant is, he shouldn’t get hurt or sick during training camp for his big fight with Canelo. But if he does get hurt, it would be smart for Plant to take the fight anyway, even if he’s less than 100%.
It’s quite rare for a fighter to go into a match without some lingering injury, which they’re forced to work around. If Plant wants the $10 million paydays against Canelo, he’s got to agree with what he’s asking for.
Look at it this way. If Plant doesn’t take the fight with Canelo, his paydays will be much smaller in making title defenses for his IBF 168-lb belt.
David Benavidez (24-0, 21 KOs) is ranked #6 with the IBF, and if they suddenly move him up to #1, Plant will need to fight him or get stripped of his title by the IBF.
“Have tried to give him everything he wants and more to make this fight,” said Plant of Canelo. I’m more than willing, able, and ready to fight Canelo Alvarez on any date,” said Plant.
I’m sure Plant is ready to take on Canelo, but something isn’t right in the contract for the Mexican star to be backing away. If it is a three-fight deal, PBC is trying to Canelo to agree with, that makes Plant a pawn in this thing.
PBC has got to know that Plant will lose to Canelo. Once that happens, it would still be a win-win for PBC because they’d have Canelo under contract for three fights.
While the money that Canelo vs. Plant makes on pay-per-view and ticket sales might not be huge, later down the road, when Alvarez fights Spence, Benavidez, and Jermall Charlo, that’s the huge revenue comes in.
This is the way I see it. It doesn’t matter if Plant loses to Canelo. What would be great for PBC is that they would have Canelo under contract for some big fights that would bring in a ton of money on pay-per-view.
You can argue that Plant is the equivalent of fish bait to lure Canelo in to get him to sign a three-fight deal. Once Plant is beaten, he’s not really important because he’ll have served his purpose.