PBC balked at paying Canelo $40M for replacement opponent on Sept.18 if Plant unable to fight

By Boxing News - 08/01/2021 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: Canelo Alvarez is stuck without an opponent for his September 18th fight after his negotiations with IBF super 168-lb champion Caleb Plant fizzled over the $40 million guarantee the Mexican star wanted in case ‘Sweethands’ pulled out of the fight due to injury/illness.

Mike Coppinger reporting that Premier Boxing Champions [PBC] wouldn’t agree to the $40M guarantee that Canelo wanted, which involved him getting that amount even if Plant (21-0, 12 KOs) pulled out of the fight due to injury or illness.

It’s understandable why PBC wouldn’t agree to pay Canelo $40 million if he winds up facing a replacement. However, from Canelo’s standpoint, he wasn’t going to take the chance of Plant needing to pull out of the fight due to injury.

The $40 million that Canelo was still insisting on getting in the event of a replacement opponent was clearly a way for him to make sure that he would get top dollar if Plant couldn’t fight. It makes sense for Canelo.

I guess you could call it insurance for Canelo. If he ends up fighting a PBC replacement opponent, he will get the same $40M.

Plant obviously didn’t like the sound of Canelo’s request, but the Mexican star didn’t want to take any chances.

Image: PBC balked at paying Canelo $40M for replacement opponent on Sept.18 if Plant unable to fight

With Plant’s hand injury problems, there’s no telling whether he could make it through training camp without needing to postpone.  If Plant pulled out of the fight, Canelo would be stuck needing to fight a replacement. Would that replacement come from PBC? If so, Canelo would essentially be fighting a two-fight deal because he would still wind up facing Plant later.

If Canelo’s fight is on PBC against one of their fighters like David Benavidez, for example, he would still need to face Plant later for him to capture his belt. So instead of it being one fight, Canelo would potentially be fighting twice on PBC.

It would be a great deal for PBC because they get Canelo for two fights instead of the original one, and who knows how much his payday would be for the replacement. It’s unlikely that Canelo would have gotten anywhere near the $40 million that he’d negotiated for the Plant fight.

The loser in all this is Plant, who would have gotten a career-high payday of $10 million. Even if Plant lost the fight, his value would have increased as long as he put in a good showing.

It will hurt Plant to lose out on that payday, especially if Canelo never attempts to revisit the fight. With Canelo, he might choose to ignore Plant after this episode and move on with his career. Indeed, it would be surprising if Canelo chooses to set up a fight with Plant again.

Plant will eventually lose his title once the International Boxing Federation orders him to defend against David Benavidez or if he faces Jermall Charlo. Those are Plant’s best chances for a big payday, but he won’t get the same kind of money fighting them as he would have against Canelo.