LAS VEGAS - Canelo Alvarez's journey at super-middleweight has included a domination of Callum Smith, a beatdown of Avni Yildirim, and a destruction of Billy Joe Saunders to gain three of the four world titles.
The final obstacle to becoming the first-ever undisputed 168-pound champion is IBF titlist Caleb Plant, and they will meet on Saturday, Nov. 6.
This run at super-middleweight has been a dominant one for Alvarez. But Plant feels he has the recipe that Smith, Yildirim, and Saunders were unable to bring to the table.
"For one, my discipline to the sport," Plant told DAZN News before the Manny Pacquiao-Yordenis Ugas main card began. "Anyone who knows me they know that I stay in shape year-round, my weight is good year-round, and that I train year-round. I invest a lot to my body yearly. Some of those guys are some A,B,C, and 1,2,3 fighters. For those of you who have been around for a while, you know what I'm talking about. But I'm not an A,B,C (and) 1,2,3 fighter. I'm not a fighter who has been undisciplined to the sport where I got to come down from 200 pounds and my mental fortitude. A lot of those guys don't have the same mental fortitude. They lost the fight before the bell even rings."
Plant (21-0, 12 KOs) won the IBF belt from Jose Uzcategui via unanimous decision in January 2019. The native of Nashville has gone on to make three consecutive title defenses to earn a crack at history against arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport.
Negotiations were ongoing with Plant and Alvarez, and a deal looked to be in place for a Sept. 18 fight. But then talks fell apart as they neared the finish line, and it appeared Alvarez and Plant would be going in different directions for the time being. Finally, after a bit of a breather, both sides came back and reached the end zone to make the historic contest.
"I thought we (originally) had a deal," Plant said. "I thought it was going through, and they came back, and it blew up. But you know, here we are. So I wasn't too discouraged because nothing ever happened for me just how I wanted it to, or for anybody for that matter. There's always gonna be bumps ahead and bumps in the road. I knew it would happen no matter what. I just didn't know if it would come back around this early. But it did, and I'm happy it did."