By Sean Jones: Canelo Alvarez states that he’s “ready” for his November 6th undisputed super middleweight fight against IBF champion Caleb ‘Sweethands’ Plant in eight days from now at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Canelo (56-1-2, 38 KOs) already appears to be cutting weight for the fight, which suggests that he’s going to be a little heavier than usual when he puts his WBA, WBC & WBO 168-lb titles on the line against the unbeaten Plant (21-0, 12 KOs).
ALVAREZ ENDING A LONG DROUGHT
Although Canelo, 31, is the betting favorite to win, the highly skilled Plant may befuddle him just as Erislandy Lara, Floyd Mayweather Jr., and Gennadiy Golovkin [first fight] did.
Canelo hasn’t faced a talented fighter since his controversial win over Golovkin in 2018, and he’s been arguably padding his record against the shot fighters Danny Jacobs and Sergey Kovalev along with his victories over the weak paper champions at 168.
When a fighter stops fighting the elite-level guys, as we’ve seen with Canelo, it’s not easy to predict how they’ll do when they return to fighting A-level opposition.
Is it laziness on Canelo’s part for his decision to stop fighting the talented opposition or fearfulness. Sean Jones believes it’s one or the other.
I tend to believe that Canelo has been afraid to step it up against elite opposition again after his bad experiences against Golovkin in their two fights, which arguably should have resulted in losses for the Mexican star. As the saying goes, ‘It’s good to be the King.’
For the last three years, Canelo has been taking easy money fights against these B/C-level fighters:
- Billy Joe Saunders – RTD 8
- Avni Yildirim – RTD 3
- Callum Smith – UD 12
- Sergey Kovalev – KO 11
- Daniel Jacobs – UD 12
- Rocky Fielding – TKO 3
These mismatches used up three years of Canelo’s career, and now he’s 31 and about to face his best opponent since his questionable win over Golovkin in 2018.
“I’m ready.”@Canelo is having a good weight cut 💪 #CaneloPlant pic.twitter.com/emOIGkkB4Y
— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) October 28, 2021
BOMAC PICKS CANELO BY STOPPAGE
“Canelo is going to be Canelo, and Plant is going to be a great boxer,” said BoMac to Fight Hub TV. “But I see Canelo stopping him in the later rounds. He’s [Canelo] a great middle puncher, and he punches in between the punches.
“He’s got good timing, and he’s powerful. I see it starting off being a good fight with Plant front-running it and Canelo walking away home with probably a stoppage in the later rounds.
“No, not right now,” said BoMac when asked if there’s anybody at 160 or 168 that can beat Canelo. “Not nobody that’s active. They’d give him a run for his money, but Canelo would figure it out,” said BoMac when asked if Jermall Charlo or David Benavidez could beat Canelo.
“You got to look at the pound-for-pound fighters like Terence. The more he’s in the game, the better off he’s getting.
“The same with Canelo and the same with the ‘Monster.’ They get better and better. That’s boxing IQ, and that’s what you call pound-for-pound. It’s a mental game,” said BoMac.