By Dan Ambrose: Canelo Alvarez has finally reacted to the criticism leveled at him recently from Floyd Mayweather Jr. by retweeting a post from one of his social media followers.
Canelo’s fan claims that the unbeaten boxing great Mayweather is “jealous” and “bitter” about the things the 31-year-old Alvarez has accomplished during his 16-year professional career.
Mayweather recently told the media that he’s NOT impressed with Canelo (57-1-2, 39 KOs) deciding to jump up to cruiserweight to challenge WBC champion Ilunga Makabu. He says the Mexican star is “DUCKING” former two-time WBC 168-lb champion David Benavidez.
Mayweather hardly needed to tell the boxing world that Canelo is and has been ducking the unbeaten talent Benavidez (25-0, 22 KOs) because it’s purely academic at this point.
Canelo has been avoiding Benavidez like the plague all these years. If any doubts were remaining, Alvarez’s decision to go up to cruiserweight to challenge WBC belt-holder Ilunga Makabu next May cemented the fact. Alvarez just does NOT want to face the young lion Benavidez, and it’s indisputable now that he NEVER will.
Fear is a terrible emotion that causes some fighters to take the easy path. In this case, Canelo has chosen to avoid Benavidez and face the weakest link among the cruiserweight champions in 34-year-old Makabu, a fighter that a faded Tony Bellew blasted out in 2016.
Canelo retweets criticism of Mayweather
This is why Floyd is so jealous of @Canelo and so salty and bitter
Canelo at ONLY 31 is already surpassing Floyd’s ENTIRE career
Where was Floyd at 31? At 31 he was no where near where Canelo is at right now!
By the time Canelo is done, Canelo WILL BE FAR AHEAD of Floyd pic.twitter.com/O5fxEqq8UW
— Chris (@mmaballer13_) December 7, 2021
Canelo’s loyal fan had failed to point out that Mayweather took more risks with his career, and by the time he was 31, he’d already beaten these talented fighters:
- Oscar De La Hoya
- Diego Corrales
- Jose Luis Castillo
- Zab Judah
- Jesus Chavez
- Genaro Hernandez
- Carlos Hernandez
What prevents Canelo from being seen in the same light as Mayweather is his controversial wins over Gennady Golovkin, Erislandy Lara, Austin Trout, and Miguel Cotto.
Also, there was the controversial draw that Canelo was given in his first fight with Golovkin in 2017, in which he appeared to lose by eight rounds to four.
The positive test for the banned PED clenbuterol hurts Canelo’s legacy, making it entirely impossible to compare him with Mayweather.
“He’s [Canelo] going up to cruiserweight and…he’s [Canelo] not doing nothing. Do I like this fight [Canelo vs. Makabu]. He’s DUCKING David Benavidez.
“Do I like this [Ilunga Makabu] fight? Absolutely not! We want to see Benavidez,” said Mayweather.
Caleb Plant talks about loss to Canelo
“I put up a good showing,” said Caleb Plant to Fight Hub TV on his 11th round knockout loss to Canelo on November 6th. “It could have been 6-4 or 5-5, and I got to lick my wounds and come back.
“But I’m in good spirits, I feel good, and I’m in a great mood, and my body is good,” Plant continued. “The beginning of next year or something like that. I’m just getting started, 22 fights.
“If that’s what he wants to do,” Plant said about Canelo going up to cruiserweight to challenge WBC champion Ilunga Makabu next May. “At first, he wasn’t punching like that, and that’s why I started stepping to him a little bit,” Plant said when asked to assess Canelo’s power.
“But I just got caught pulling on the way back. I had my hand up, but he kind of caught me on the inside, and I got caught with a good shot. Anybody can get caught with a good shot in boxing,” Plant said.
As you can tell, Plant is having a hard time coming to terms with his recent knockout loss to Canelo.
The defeat has shaken Plant to his boots, and he’s having difficulty putting things into perspective.
Rather than pinpointing what went wrong and making sure those things don’t happen again, Plant appears to be getting down on himself and seems utterly gloomy about it.
That’s not a good sign. Plant isn’t reacting like the greats Sugar Ray Robinson did after losing. Robinson didn’t get down on himself after losing because he would learn from his losses and continue fighting.
Plant talks about Mayweather similaritiesÂ
“I watched some of the tape [of Canelo’s fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013],” Plant said. “But trying to make certain adjustments in the fight. At first, I was trying to move my feet, but what happened, happened. It’s on with the next.
“I don’t think we really have too much of a similar style,” Plant said in reacting to being compared to Mayweather. “He’s got a lot of ring IQ, and I know I got a lot of ring IQ. I got a lot of footwork and good defense.
“We have some similar [attributes]. We’re not comparing ourselves to each other, but I don’t think I fight all that much like him [Mayweather]. I have a different style, but I can do different things.
“So, I try to implement different things here when it’s needed, but I’m my own person. I didn’t invent that style. He [Mayweather] didn’t invent his style. We’re all taking bits and pieces from people before,” Plant said.
What Plant lacks is the stamina that Mayweather possessed during his career. For all the similarities that Plant has with Mayweather, he doesn’t have the gas tank needed to follow in his footsteps.
Plant’s loss to Canelo isn’t the end of the world, as he’s still young at 28, but he’s going to have to fix his cardio problem and try and improve his weak punching power if he wants to compete with the talented fighters at 168. At this point, Plant has to be rated below these guys at 168:
1. David Benavidez
2. David Morrell Jr.
3. Canelo Alvarez
4. Edgar Berlanga
5. Carlos Gongora
6. Caleb Plant
If Demetrius Andrade moves up to 168, Plant will be below him. Andrade has too much power and athleticism for Plant or Canelo.
Caleb on 9th round conversation with Alvarez
“Just feeling relaxed and trying to keep that relaxed energy going,” said Caleb Plant on why he was having a conversation with Canelo during the ninth round.
“I was letting him know, ‘Hey, I’m pretty good, and I know I’m better than you thought I was,’ and I know I surprised him with that. I was just having some fun.
“And I just let him know that I was sad because I was,” Plant said about his conversation with Canelo immediately after the fight when the contest was halted in the 11th round by the referee.
“And I was just being honest in the moment and not trying to make excuses to say, You know, ‘the referee stopped it too early’ or something like that. I’m sad, I put a lot of work in, and I told him I wanted to keep fighting.
“I didn’t want the ref to stop it, but that was it. I’m going to be right back next year in the first quarter, and I showed that I belong at the top.
“I showed that I’m a world-class fighter, and I showed that I can hang with anybody in the world. If he’s a once-in-a-generation talent, then I showed I belong. So, I’ll be back. I’m motivated, and I’ll be back,” said Plant.
Caleb was down in the scorecards by the following scores when Canelo stopped in the 11th: 96-94, 97-93, and 98-92.
Of those scores, 96-94 was the most accurate of the three, as Plant was still right in it and could have won earned a draw if he’d finished strong in the 11th and 12th.
