Caleb Plant, fresh off his commanding defence of the IBF super-middleweight championship against Caleb Truax on Saturday, re-iterated his intentions to take on the other champions of the division this year.
The other recognised world titles at 168lb are currently held by Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (WBA, WBC and The Ring/lineal champion) and Billy Joe Saunders (WBO champion). Canelo returns to the ring on Feb. 27 against Avni Yildirim, live on DAZN worldwide except Mexico, amid reports he could make it three fights in just five months by facing Saunders on Cinco de Mayo weekend if he emerges unscathed.
If that comes off, Plant will not be able to enter the unification scene until late summer or fall at the earliest, but he is happy to wait.
“I’m going to go home and enjoy this win. I’m going to sit down with my team and decide what my next move is," he told media shortly after defeating Truax.
“I can’t say for sure, but I’ll definitely be ready by September and ready for whoever and whatever is next. I don’t know. That’s not me to figure out, that’s for them to figure out.”
September is an interesting choice of month for Plant to name-drop. Other than Cinco weekend, another big preference of pound-for-pound superstar Canelo is to compete close to Mexico's Independence Day of Sept. 16.
And if Alvarez is able to vanquish Yildirim and dethrone the undefeated Saunders, that could leave Plant as the final remaining piece of the undisputed jigsaw on one of his favourite fight weekends.
In the meantime, Plant has been linked with a bout against undefeated American David Benavidez, who is a former WBC super-middle titleholder but was stripped of the title after testing positive for cocaine.
"I’m ready for the next. I’m ready for whoever,” continued Plant. “Like I said before, I feel like I’m the best super middleweight in the world. So you line them up, I knock them down.”