By Ian S Palmer
All four major super middleweight titles are on the line at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada this Saturday, November 6th when Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez of Mexico meets Caleb Plant of Nashville, Tennessee. Alvarez currently possesses the WBO, WBC and WBA (Super) versions while the undefeated Plant is the IBF champion. The 12-round bout can be seen on Showtime Pay-Per-view in North America and BT Sport Box Office in the UK. Alvarez last fought in May when he stopped Billy Joe Saunders after eight rounds while Plant beat Caleb Truax by a wide unanimous decision his last time out in January.
Alvarez won his latest in a merry-go-round of titles last December when he beat Callum Smith by unanimous decision for the vacant WBC Super Middleweight Title and Smith’s WBA belt and then added the WBO title with his demolition of Billy Joe Saunders. However, he hasn’t been severely tested since his two highly-controversial bouts, a win and draw against Gennady Golovkin in 2017 and 2018.
Since those meetings with Triple G, he’s also beaten the likes of Rocky Fielding, Daniel Jacobs, Sergey Kovalev, Callum Smith and Avni Yildirim while stopping Fielding, Kovalev and Yildirim. Jacobs, Smith, Kovalev and Saunders were his toughest tests of that bunch and Alvarez didn’t really have too much trouble with any of them.
The 31-year-old Alvarez owns a fine record of 56-1-2 with 38 Kos with his only official loss being a majority decision to Floyd Mayweather in September, 2013. Besides his draw with Golovkin, he drew a four-round affair against Jorge Juarez back in 2006. Alvarez stands 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 70.5 inch reach. He has a wealth of experience for his age since he turned pro when he was just 15 years old in 2005 and has 425 rounds under his belt since.
He’s taken on and beaten or decisioned some other tough opponents over the years such as Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Amir Khan, Miguel Cotto, James Kirkland, Austin Trout, Erislandy Lara, Shane Mosley, Josesito Lopez, Kermit Cintron, Carlos Baldomir, and Alfredo Angulo. He’s also held world titles in the junior. middleweight, middleweight and and light heavyweight divisions as well as minor belts as a welterweight.
Alvarez has solid power and enters the fight with a current knockout ratio of 64.4 per cent with a granite chin and quick hands but has gone the distance in five of his last nine fights. Also, Golovkin, Mayweather, Lara and Khan to some degree, showed that Canelo can be outboxed as he has difficulty handling a quick, stiff jab. Even so, Alvarez is a good boxer-puncher who likes to go to the body but has a bit of difficulty with opponents who are mobile.
The 29-year-old Plant, who now resides in Las Vegas, won the title in IBF January, 2019 when he beat Jose Uzcategui by unanimous decision and dropped him twice on his way to victory. He then defended the belt against Mike Lee by third-round TKO in 2019 before stopping the unheralded Vincent Feigenbutz in 2020 and beating Truax earlier this year. Plant enters the ring with a perfect record of 21-0 with 12 Kos and also looked impressive before winning the title when he beat Rogelio Medina in 2018.
Plant is a good-sized 168-pounder as he’s 6-feet-1-inch tall with a 74-inch wingspan which gives him a five-inch edge in height and 3.5-inch advantage in reach on Alvarez. He doesn’t possess great one-punch power but has a decent knockout ratio of 57.1 per cent. He turned pro in 2014 and has boxed 122 rounds since then. He had a good amateur career and fought in the 2011 and 2013 Golden Gloves.
Plant was also an alternate for the American Olympic Team for the 2012 Games in London, England. His best wins as a pro have been over Truax, Lee, Uzcategui, Medina, Juan De Angel, Carlos Galvan, Thomas Awimbono, Adasat Rodriguez and Andrew Hernandez. He possesses fine mobility, skills and speed and will try to utilize those attributes against Alvarez.
Prediction…
Alvarez is considered by many to be the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world and even if you had him losing both fights to Golovkin he’s still one of the best out there. He may lack size, but that’s about it. He does everything well and when he does make a mistake his chin has bailed him out. However, he struggles a bit against mobile boxers with good movement. While Plant may fit this bill, he’s taking a big step up in class here as he simply hasn’t fought the same level of opponents. Plant needs to use his size advantage to strike and then get out of range of Alvarez’s counter shots and has to neutralize or smother his power. That’s not going to be easy though if Alvarez is pressing the action and cutting off the ring. A Plant victory certainly wouldn’t surprise me and neither would a draw. However, if it’s case of putting your money where your mouth is I’d place it on Alvarez.
