Caleb Plant Gets At Canelo
Mere days before his second title defense against Vincent Feigenbutz, a substantial amount of industry conjecture began to swirl about IBF super middleweight champion Caleb “Sweethands” Plant (20-0, 12 KO’s). At the time, Mexican superstar and WBA world middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (53-1-2, 36 KO’s) was looking for an opponent and having a difficult time of it.
So the behinds the scenes chatter suggested that perhaps Team Canelo would take interest in Sweethands. Caleb Plant would go on to confirm that an individual representing Alvarez did get in contact. Due to the reach out being so informal however, and lacking an actual contract or any kind of numbers, Plant did not take the hypothetical situation seriously. In a recent session going live on his social media, Sweethands took the time to elaborate a bit more on the on-going topic with Fight Hype.
“They never even sent a real offer. It was just a secondary guy who reached out to someone on our team and we were like, ‘no we’re cool, we’re good.’…I’m a seven figure fighter, you know? I make well over seven figures every time I fight. So, I don’t have to be desperate, I’m not in boxing for money.
I feel like a lot of fight fans say ‘they’re just in it for the money these days! They just do it for the money, they just care about being rich and famous!’ And then a fighter comes along who doesn’t care about being famous, is not in boxing solely just for money but cares about legacy and also being respected.
It’s about respect, that if I am a world class fighter then you should offer me something, you know, reasonable. And I am not trying to price myself out because I feel like maybe some of the others guys were, but they never even sent an offer and it never even got to that. So, I’m free in September though!”
TRAINING CAMP BLUES
Beyond there being no tangible offer presented, the IBF champ made it clear that he would not fight Canelo on his beloved Mexican Independence Day weekend. The reason is because that would force him to immediately jump back into another training camp. Feeling that he was a legitimately certified champion, Plant was not willing to be bullied into a disadvantageous situation.
“I think a lot of people were confused thinking that I was saying that I needed rest because I had a tough fight you know? But people who know anything about boxing know that I am not talking about that, I need to rest from the fight. I clearly didn’t take all that much punishment. You got to take a rest from training camp.
All the rounds that you put in, people usually do 120 rounds for a world championship fight. A lot of people spar more than that, I usually spar more than that. You know, the miles you run, the sprints, being abstinent for eight weeks…maybe a lot of people don’t do their camp that disciplined so they can enjoy other things while they’re in camp. But I don’t do it like that. I go 100% disciplined. I do not put my hand in the cookie jar for anything. So I just wanted to rest from training camp.”
I’M READY IN SEPTEMBER
Looking back on the situation, Plant has no regrets or pines for the chance to do it all over again. He still stands firm on those beliefs. However, now having had time to rest, he is more than willing to fight Canelo in September.
“I can’t take anything away from him. I don’t want to speak off of emotion and say that he sucks or oh he can’t fight or he’s a scrub. He’s done a lot of respectable things in the sport. He’s got a lot of accolades, but I think if there is anybody for the job I know I am the man for job.
I know I got the skills, I got the IQ, I know I got the dog in me! I persevered through a lot and it turned me into a pro class fighter and I’ve been working for a real long time. And not just any type of work but smart work, the right way. Fundamentals are correct, my balance is correct, you know I feel like I am the full package. So like I said, I’m free in September.”
By: Bakari Simpson
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