Chris Arreola predicts Canelo Alvarez vs. Caleb Plant

By Boxing News - 10/24/2021 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: Chris Arreola predicts a victory for IBF super middleweight champion Caleb ‘Sweethands’ Plant in his undisputed 168-lb fight against WBA/WBC/WBO champion Canelo Alvarez in less than two weeks on November 6th. The fight will be broadcast on Showtime pay-per-view.

The former two-time heavyweight world title challenger Arreola likes the boxing IQ, size, and the ability of Plant (21-0, 12 KOs) to take an occasional hit from his opponents.

The 6’1″ Plant, 28, is the younger, more mobile, and bigger fighter than the 5’8″ Canelo, who will be giving away five inches in height and three and a half inches in reach to the Tennessean.

Canelo, 31, is the favorite heading into his fight with Plant at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, but that doesn’t matter. Plant has the boxing skills, mobility, and pedigree to win this match.

If it goes to a decision, Canelo is expected to be given the victory due to the match taking place in Las Vegas, where he never loses decisions anymore.

Hopefully, the judges don’t embarrass themselves and spoil the contest by turning in a set of wacky scores that have no basis in reality.

We already saw that occur in Canelo’s two fights with Gennadiy Golovkin and in his match with Erislandy Lara.

Caleb Plant can win

“That’s one of the best middleweight fights that can be done right now,” said Chris Arreola to Fighthub on the Canelo vs. Plant fight. “Caleb Plant is one of those fighters that likes to hit and doesn’t get hit because he’s very defensive and offensive-minded.

Image: Chris Arreola predicts Canelo Alvarez vs. Caleb Plant

“He’s a very good fighter. Canelo, you know him. He’s throwing bombs, breaking mother f**** jaws and s***, breaking orbital bones.

“So let’s hope that Caleb doesn’t get hit. It’s a fun fight, and I think it’s a fan-friendly fight. I personally believe Caleb can win this fight.

He’s [Plant] big enough to box him, he’s smart enough to box him, and he’s strong enough to take punches and give punches to Canelo.

“Don’t get me wrong. Canelo is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters I’ve ever seen. After he [Canelo] lost to [Floyd] Mayweather, he changed his whole game plan.

“He has great defense. His offense comes right after his defense, so it should be a great fight.

The young buck Caleb Plant is hungry, so I got Caleb coming in for the win. I’m calling Caleb,” said Arreola in predicting Plant beats Canelo.

Plant will bring a far different style to this fight on November 6th than the opposition that Canelo has faced during the last seven years of his career.

The last timeĀ  Canelo fought a slick boxer with a fighting style and skills similar to Plant was way back in 2014 when he defeated Cuban talent Erislandy Lara by a questionable 12 round split decision.

Canelo was seen widely as the loser in that match, and to this day, fans view that fight as a robbery. Instead of Canelo giving Lara a rematch, he walked away, leaving the controversy as a stain on his record.

Alvarez has stayed away from boxers

Canelo and his team have been wise since then to fight guys that would stand in front of him and let him pick them apart with power shots.

Given that Canelo has non-boxers strictly in the last seven years since his controversial win over Lara, it’s impossible to know how he’ll react against Plant.

All we know is that Canelo arguably failed when he fought Lara and Floyd Mayweather Jr., and he’s shown no interest until now to fight another slick boxer.

It’s safe to say that the ONLY reason Canelo is fighting Plant now is because of his IBF title and his desire to become the undisputed 168-lb champion.

If not for that, Plant would likely be on Canelo’s ignore list of fighters, which some boxing fans believe includes David Benavidez at the top of the list, followed closely by Gennadiy Golovkin, Demetrius Andrade, David Morrell Jr., and Dmitry Bivol. Simply put, guys that can potentially beat Canelo.

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