Canelo Alvarez is one of, if not the biggest name in the world of boxing right now. A man with a real love for the sport, a man who isn’t scared of fighting anybody, anywhere.
With a resume filled to the brim with unbelievable names, the likes of José Cotto, Amir Khan, Triple G (Gennady Golovkin) and Billy Joe Saunders. As well as a rather controversial loss to arguably the greatest to ever do it, Mayweather Jr. When you look at the titles this man has won it’s actually kind of disgusting.
This man has held titles in 4 different weight classes. In the past he held the WBC and WBA super welterweight titles. He held the WBC, the WBA and the IBF middleweight titles as well as the WBO light heavyweight title. Currently? Canelo holds the WBA (super), the WBC and Ring Magazine super middleweight titles that he has held since 2020, the WBO super middleweight title which he picked up in May 2021 and the IBF title which he picked up this weekend after defeating the previously undefeated Caleb Plant, we’ll talk more about this in a moment. This means that Canelo has unified 3 different weight classes, as well as becoming the FIRST undisputed super middleweight champion. Unbelievable record.
But that’s not exactly what we’re here to discuss today, no. We’re here to discuss the fight this past weekend against the previously undefeated Caleb Plant. It’s no secret that before the right started, the best new york betting sites for boxing had Alvarez as a pretty heavy favourite, but I don’t think any of them saw the fight going the way it did, not the fact that Plant lost by knockout, no. It was more the fact that it went 11 rounds before Alvarez got the knock out! But how did the fact go up until that point?
The big question for most people going into this fight was whether Caleb Plant was ready to take what is a HUGE step up to fight Canelo. I don’t think anybody can argue that Plant is a much better boxer than Canelos last opponent, Billy Joe Saunders, he is way more athletic but does he have enough power? Was he ready? Is he a good enough boxer to face off against Canelo or would he find himself in survival mode for the best part of this fight? Well, as expected, Canelo was on top for most of this fight. Plant wasn’t necessarily in survival mode but he genuinely looked like he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do or what he COULD do.
There was a point in the fight where Canelo was standing facing Plant, back to the ropes. At that point I feel like a boxer with a plan or a boxer with more aggression would’ve tried to put the heat on Canelo after seeing this. But Plant didn’t push at this point, he just sort of stood there, passively, as if he was waiting to see what Canelo would do next and when you’re stood opposite a fighter of Canelos stature, allowing him to catch a mid round breather isn’t really a smart idea, I mean I’m, no fighter but that surely isn’t smart, right? But the fear is there, is Canelo offering this up this moment as a trap? If that is running through your mind and you’re currently in mental overdrive, it’s somewhat understandable.
Plant was seen by many to have fought in a manner that showed he didn’t believe he should’ve been there. He boxed most of the fight employing the Philly Shell and Shoulder Roll defence, maybe hoping that Canelo would eventually tire himself out or he could catch him on the counter after making him frustrated. But this just didn’t happen, Canelo “cracked the shell” as it were, using the left hook very efficiently, nailing the body, nailing the head, seemingly at will. Creeping closer to Plant, just peppering him with the lead left.
In the end, the knockout eventually came. Plant was knocked down for the first time in the fight, found himself in a neutral corner before moving back to where he was knocked down, a questionable decision in my opinion. Canelo then proceeded to finish Plant off, finally becoming the undisputed super middleweight champion he said he would become. But, looking over the horizon, who is left to challenge Canelo now, which weight class is Canelo going to dominate next? He’s done it all before.
In what seems to be a shocking turn of events, Kamaru Usman, coming off the back of his second win against Colby Covington, has expressed his urge to fight Canelo. Usman is a phenomenal mixed martial artist, impeccable wrestling and grappling, his weakest part of his game HAD always been his striking but Usman has prioritised working on his striking over the last few years, putting his phenomenal power to good use while standing. He’s arguably the greatest welterweight in UFC history, potentially the #1 pound for pound fighter on the planet. But why would he want to box Canelo?
Well, Usman has really struggled to find his ceiling in the UFC, every opponent that is put in front of him, he has smashed, mauled, battered. Nothing has ever REALLY challenged him. He made Tyron Woodley look like a little boy, he demolished Jorge Masvidal, he made one of the greats Rafael dos Anjos look poor. His biggest challenge has been Colby Covington. There were a few moments in both fights where Colby caught Usman, but he never REALLY seemed troubled, getting a KO win in the first fight and a unanimous decision in the second. Does Usman want to fight Canelo because he truly thinks he can beat him? Or is it more because he wants to challenge himself, see where he measures up to Canelo? Of course Dana White shut this down immediately, but I don’t know, it could be interesting to see.
Only time will tell, but one thing is for sure, after a well earned break, we’ll be excited to see what’s next for Canelo. Names like David Benavidez and Jermall Charlo have also been thrown into the hat, but what about you? Who would YOU like to see Canelo fight next? Would a “super fight” between Canelo and Usman tickle your pickle? Do you have any boxers in mind, at any weight class, that you’d prefer to see him fight? Let us know!