Caleb Plant and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez had to overcome some negotiating hurdles to finally make a deal to meet in a November 6 clash.
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Caleb Plant and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez had to overcome some negotiating hurdles to finally make a deal to meet in a November 6 clash to crown an undisputed super middleweight champion. Those hurdles led to serious bad blood that spilled over in a violent way at a Tuesday press conference to formally announce the Showtime pay-per-view bout.
Heated! ?
Canelo Álvarez and Caleb Plant came to blows at a press conference building up to their world title fight in November pic.twitter.com/Q6heNnRVhJ
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) September 22, 2021
After the two sides engaged in a prolonged staredown at the press conference, Alvarez delivered a shove to Plant’s chest. Plant stormed back and began throwing blows in Alvarez’s direction with Alvarez returning fire. Security managed to separate the two sides as their camps also began exchanging words.
The scuffle left Plant bleeding from a gash below his right eye. The severity of the cut could have an impact on the status of the fight. If it is bad enough to require a pause in Plant’s training for the biggest fight of his career, it could result in the fight being postponed, though it will require medical attention to determine if such steps are necessary.
“It’s a fight,” Plant said. “If he’s gonna turn it into a fight, then that’s what it is. I’m not no punk. You don’t just get to stand up here and do whatever you want to me. Maybe the rest of these guys, you can just come up and here and they’re all scared of you. That’s now how this works.”
Plant holds the IBF super middleweight championship while Alvarez is the WBA, WBC and WBO champion at the weight. The two previously had negotiations fall apart for a planned September bout only to overcome those hurdles to book the fight for November.
Mexico’s Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will fight unbeaten American Caleb Plant for the undisputed world super middleweight boxing crown on November 6 in Las Vegas. The showdown will see Alvarez defend his World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) crowns against International Boxing Federation (IBF) Champion Plant. All of the super-middleweight belts will be at stake this fall. The Mexican superstar announced the news through social media. “This Nov 6th we’ll put Mexican boxing on top,” Alvarez tweeted. “Going for the missing belt!”
The fight was initially set for September before talks fell apart at the last minute over what Plant termed as “ridiculous requests” made by Canelo’s camp. Well presumably that got smoothed over and now this fight is back on, just at a later date.
The original plan was the fight night around Mexican Independence Day, Sept. 18th. However, that date fell through and despite reports of a different opponent for the Champ that date, Canelo’s quest for all the titles at 168lbs now moves to November.
Prior to even defeating Billy Joe Saunders via ninth-round TKO in May, Alvarez had laid out his eyes to become boxing’s first undisputed super middleweight champion. Moreover, he fractured Saunders’ orbital bone to collect the WBO title, Alvarez called Plant out as the missing piece to the puzzle. “I’m coming, my friend,” Canelo said in the ring.
