'I love challenges:' Canelo Alvarez makes history, sets sights on lucrative bidding war
LAS VEGAS — Canelo Alvarez has reached this ongoing career peak with a headstrong, not-to-be-denied ferocity both in and out of the boxing ring.
Rightfully then, it was by imposing his substantial will again that he became the first man in his sport’s annals to stand as an undisputed, four-belt champion in the super-middleweight division.
Unmoved by the effective jabbing and fast hands of outgoing International Boxing Federation champion Caleb Plant, Alvarez’s steady distribution of power punches finally made Plant cave in the 11th round.
Alvarez followed a two-punch knockdown with a far more brutal combination that ended the fight by knockout 1:05 into the round.
A RECAP: Canelo Alvarez stops Caleb Plant to become undisputed super middleweight champ
“This means so much for the history of Mexico to become an undisputed champion,” Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KOs) said afterward. “There are only six undisputed champions in history. It keeps me happy and very motivated to be one of the six.”
After a contentious promotion with Plant that included the pair exchanging facial strikes at their introductory September news conference and then spewing more venom at Friday’s weigh-in, Alvarez set aside the tension of his fierce ambition to embrace his Nashville foe and send him some praise.
“To be honest, I was a little frustrated in the first five rounds, but in the second half, it was ideal, exactly how I envisioned,” Alvarez said. “(Trainer) Eddy (Reynoso) was the one who calmed me down. Every time I came back to the corner real excited, he kept me on the right path. Then, the game plan came right to fruition.”
“Eddy told me to just stick to the game plan in the last two rounds. In the end, I got him. That’s the way it had to finish. He was already hurt, and I went for the kill.”
Plant, in suffering his first loss, was taken to a nearby hospital for precautionary reasons after sustaining the late barrage of head shots atop a punishing amount of hammering punches to the body.
Alvarez and 140-pound Josh Taylor are the only active undisputed champions. The four-belt feat was accomplished previously by middleweights Bernard Hopkins and Jermain Taylor, 140-pound Terence Crawford and cruiserweight Oleksandr Usyk.
Crawford and Usyk have remained unbeaten and proceeded to become champions in the welterweight and heavyweight divisions, respectively.
But Alvarez, as a four-division champion while reigning as boxing’s pound-for-pound king, punctuated his elite place in the sport by donning a king’s crown and standing atop his corner’s ropes with both arms raised as a raucous sellout crowd of 16,586 at MGM Grand roared for him.
Final punch statistics showed he out-landed Plant, 102-59, in power punches, while sending 53 of his total 117 landed punches to the body, dismissing Plant’s 42-15 advantage in landed jabs.
The number that mattered most was the nine landed blows Alvarez delivered in the final seconds, ringing both of Plant’s ears with the menacing blows that ended the night.
Judge Patricia Morse Jarman surprisingly awarded Plant four of the first six rounds and had Alvarez leading 96-94 at the finish, but judge Steve Weisfeld had it 98-92 (eight rounds to two) and Dave Moretti’s scorecard was 97-93.
Closing his year with history is a fitting reward for Alvarez, who endured a turbulent 2020 by filing a lawsuit that led to his split from his famed promoter, Oscar De La Hoya.
Hell-bent to perform as a free agent, Alvarez has fought four times within this calendar year, singularly picking up each of the 168-pound belts in each bout.
His three 2021 victories were all knockouts, likely sealing a second fighter-of-the-year award, and now setting in motion exactly what he wanted out of his stubborn mission – a highly lucrative bidding war for his services among all major promoters.
He said he anticipates plotting his next move in January, and will likely return to the ring in May.
Saturday’s bout was produced by powerful manager Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions, with broadcast partner Showtime seeking to position for more Alvarez action after a Saturday night where his purse was near $40 million.
Both Showtime President Stephen Espinoza and a PBC lieutenant told Paste BN Sports Plus that PBC plans to propose upcoming 2022 bouts for Alvarez against unbeaten former 168-pound champion David Benavidez and unbeaten middleweight champion Jermall Charlo.
Benavidez fights on Showtime Saturday in his hometown of Phoenix, and Charlo is a steady Showtime performer.
Yet, England’s Eddie Hearn, who promoted the three Alvarez bouts before Plant, said he will press Alvarez to conclude his trilogy with 39-year-old former middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin.
“Everybody knows that’s the biggest fight out there,” Hearn said after Alvarez and Golovkin fought to a 2017 draw, with Alvarez emerging with a razor-thin victory by decision in 2018. “We will present that fight to both guys, because, financially, it’s the biggest fight for each of them.”
Golovkin is training for a late-December title defense against Ryoto Murata in Japan.
“The first two were stunning fights. The trilogy will be a stunning fight,” said Hearn, cognizant of how former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder answered his rematch-loss to Tyson Fury last month by engaging in an emotional, thrilling trilogy bout that Fury won with the bout’s fifth and final knockdown.
“Having dealt with Canelo Alvarez, there’s not one fight he won’t take. It’s all about the time of the fight, the size of the fight, the money … Canelo Alvarez wants to take the fights that people want to see. For Gennadiy Golovkin, that will be the final roll of the dice. You know he’ll give it everything. But Saul (Alvarez) is Saul and he’s only getting better and better.”
Alvarez explained why.
“I was taught never to lose my discipline and my passion for boxing," he said. “That’s why I’m here today. I love challenges. I’m always looking for the best fights.”