.jpg)
Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez already has his next two fights scheduled, yet he continues to keep tabs on the rest of the super middleweight division.
With that came his team’s undivided attention on another recent divisional title fight, as unbeaten Caleb Plant (21-0, 12KOs) scored a 12-round shutout win over Caleb Plant in a Jan. 30th title defense live on Fox from Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in Los Angeles. Plant enjoyed success in the ring and as a proven ratings draw, as his bout generated a peak audience of 2,019,000 viewers while further establishing himself as among the best super middleweights in the world.
“Caleb is an excellent boxer,” Eddy Reynoso, Alvarez’s longtime trainer told BoxingScene.com. “He fights really nice. He has a good job, works his legs well and uses the entire ring well.”
Plant registered the third successful defense of an IBF title reign which dates back to his 12-round unanimous decision win over Jose Uzcategui in Jan. 2019, leaving the Tennessee native—now based out of Las Vegas—as the longest active champion in the division.
Hatfield, England’s Billy Joe Saunders (30-0, 14KOs) joined the fold after outpointing Shefat Isufi for the vacant WBO 168-pound title in May 2019. Alvarez (54-1-2, 36KOs) officially became a four-division major titlist following a lopsided points win over previously unbeaten Callum Smith (27-1, 19KOs) to win the WBC and WBA super middleweight titles last December in San Antonio, Texas.
Guadalajara’s Alvarez—who previously held a secondary WBA title at the weight—declared the weight division to serve as his new home for at least throughout 2021, with the intention of becoming the undisputed champion.
A fight with Plant was previously discussed, though with the timing not proving to be right for either side. Alvarez instead faced and defeated Smith and is now armed with two fights between now and May—a Feb. 27th mandatory title defense versus Istanbul’s Avni Yildirim (21-2, 12KOs), followed by a three-belt unification versus Saunders which targeted for May 8th with Las Vegas as the desired destination to host.
In the event he wins out, Alvarez intends to revisit plans for what would then serve as an undisputed championship showdown with Plant, who remains noncommittal to a next fight beyond his desire to face the Mexican superstar. Depending on the viewpoint, the unbeaten 28-year old either enhanced his value through his latest strong ratings pull or left something to be desired in terms of entertainment value. Plant’s otherwise thoroughly dominant performance was hampered by a hand injury which occurred in the first half of the fight.
Still, there remains plenty from the win over Truax and previous tltle fights from which Alvarez and the team can draw their own conclusions.
“He can stand to improve his power and to be fair, wasn’t facing an opponent who is still at his best,” suggests Reynoso. “(Truax) is maybe a level below but he’s still a very good fighter. It was a very good win and a very good performance by Caleb Plant.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox