By Matt Lieberman: The negotiations between Canelo Alvarez and Caleb Plant are reportedly starting again for an undisputed 168-lb clash that could take place in November.
WBA/WBC/WBO 168-lb champion Alvarez and IBF champion Plant already had agreed on most of the issues for a fight in their previous negotiations.
So all they need to do now is find a way to settle their small sticking point that derailed their negotiations. With Canelo now fighting in November, he has plenty of time to get the fight made with Plant (21-0, 12 KOs).
This comes after the news of Canelo (56-1-2, 38 KOs) pulling out of his September 18th fight date that he’d been trying to salvage against WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol.
The boxing public would rather see Canelo face Bivol than Plant, but it’s understandable why the Mexican star wants to persist with fighting Caleb. Canelo wants to finish unifying the 168-lb division before moving up to 175.
If Canelo were to fight Dmitry Bivol next for his WBA light heavyweight title, it would be harder for him to lose weight to come back down to 168 later to face Plant for the IBF belt.
Also, there would be the possibility of Canelo being stripped of his WBA, WBA, or WBO 168-lb belts if he begins capturing titles at 175. Another negative about Canelo going up to 175 is the possibility of David Benavidez capturing the IBF belt by beating Plant.
It’s a lot easier for Canelo to fight Plant for the IBF title than it would be against Benavidez.
Canelo is a calculated fighter, and he must know that the International Boxing Federation could order Plant to defend against Benavidez. If they do that, Plant’s days as a champion would be numbered.
“Sources revealed to ESPN that there is a new attempt to make that fight between Canelo and Plant for [undisputed] championships despite the collapse of a few days ago,” said Salvador Rodriguez to ESPN Deportes.
“The talk is not about doing it on September 18 now, and not because the fighters don’t want to, but because of a promotional issue.”
Canelo’s negotiations with Bivol slowed after the Mexican star asked for a catchweight for their fight. Bivol’s team wanted more training time if Canelo was going to ask for a catchweight.
It’s unknown whether Canelo was ever serious about wanting to challenge Bivol for his title. We don’t know if this was a ruse on Canelo’s part to try and get Plant to agree to what he wanted in the contract.
It would make sense for Canelo to pretend that he was interested in fighting Bivol to get Plant to accept his contract terms. What makes it believable that Canelo used Bivol is that it’s a fight would have been more of a 50-50 match for the Mexican star. Unfortunately, Canelo hasn’t fought anyone in many years that had an even chance of beating him.
The guys that Canelo has been fighting since 2018 have been CLEAR underdogs. Bivol would have had an excellent chance against Canelo, which is why it remains a strong possibility that the Russian fighter was used as a pawn to get Plant to agree on the terms Alvarez wanted.
“The advances made in the first negotiation were remarkable, such as the guaranteed bags [purses] of each one, except for the final details that brought everything down,” Salvador Rodriguez continued.
“With that background on the table, they don’t start from scratch, and they already knew the corrections that had to be made.”
The way that Bivol beat Joe Smith Jr in 2019 was so dominating that it’s difficult to imagine Canelo beating him. Canelo may realize that himself, so he’s opting to go in the path of least resistance against Plant.