By Sean Jones: Superstar Canelo Alvarez is close to making a deal with Caleb Plant for November on FOX pay-per-view for the undisputed championship at 168. ESPN reports the Canelo-Plant fight is close to being done, but this is like Deja Vu.
Assuming the Canelo-Plant fight gets made for November, Canelo will receive a career-high payday of $40 million, whereas Plant will get $10 million.
Unfortunately, the fight will be sold on FOX PPV and will likely go for $74.99 rather than being shown on DAZN, which boxing fans would prefer.
For a lot of fans, they don’t see Canelo vs. Plant as PPV-worthy. The reason for that is obvious. It’s more of a fight that is perfect for non-PPV. Plant lacks the power and the stamina to beat Canelo, and he’s never fought anyone near the same level.
Canelo changed his mind about fighting Bivol
Plant is another Billy Joe Saunders type of light-punching belt-holder who has fought largely no one during his career. Plant’s best win was against Jose Uzcategui, who is a flawed fighter that had been beaten before by Matt Korobov.
It would be interesting to know what made Canelo decide to restart negotiations with Plant rather than fight with WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol.
The boxing public had already made it clear after the Plant talks had imploded that they preferred to see Canelo fighting Bivol, as it was a fight that was more compelling on paper.
In other words, the fans didn’t know if Canelo would win or not, which wasn’t the case with his match against Plant. He’s seen as a belt-holder in the same mold as Billy Joe Saunders, with virtually no chance of beating Canelo.
We’ve been here before with Canelo, 31, and Plant being close to having a fight done for September 18th, only to see the negotiations implode over an impasse in the talks.
Plant was good enough to spill his guts, telling boxing fans that the reasons the negotiations went sour last time were Canelo wanting the same $40 million that he was getting for fighting him to potentially face a replacement if he were to pull out of the fight for any reason, be it injury or illness.
Fans taking a wait and see approach
Until the fight is actually signed, fans will need to hold off on their enthusiasm, as they’ve already been burned twice in a row with Canelo failing to put together matches against Plant and Dmitry Bivol.
Some boxing fans believe Canelo saw the potential of what could happen if he went through with the Bivol fight, so he quickly gave up on that idea because there was too much risk.
Did Canelo lose his nerve after taking a good look at what he was up against in facing Bivol? Sean Jones believes that may be the case. Canelo may have taken a gander of some of Bivol’s past fights against Joe Smith Jr, Craig Richards, and Lenin Castillo and decided it was safer to fight the softer target ‘Sweethand’ Plant.
To be sure, Canelo vs. Bivol would have been a 50-50, and it could have ended badly for the Mexican star. In contrast, Canelo vs. Plant is more 80-20 in Alvarez’s favor regarding the likelihood of him winning.
Canelo will be a HUGE favorite
If the Plant fight gets made, Canelo will have an excellent chance of defeating the unbeaten ‘Sweethands’ to take his IBF strap.
That would be the culmination of three years of work for Canelo, who started his dream of becoming the undisputed 168-lb champion in 2018 when he defeated WBA super middleweight champion Rocky Fielding to win his first belt in the division.
Since beating Fielding, Canelo has picked up two more titles at 168, beating champions Callum Smith and Billy Joe Saunders. Interestingly, all three of those fighters were from the UK and weren’t considered great talents.
Plant’s complaints about Canelo during the last negotiations
“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 gotta wait for him,” Plant said via ESPN. “…
“I’m more than willing, able, and ready to fight Canelo Alvarez on any date.”