Caleb Plant thinks his size and skill will win the day against Canelo Alvarez
Come November 6, IBF super middleweight Caleb “Sweethands” Plant (21-0, 12 KO’s) will slide through the ropes for the biggest fight of his life. At stake will be his IBF strap and the prestigious designation of undisputed super middleweight champion. Actually, Saturday will crown the first undisputed 168-pound champion in history. Standing in direct opposition of his goals is WBA super, WBO and WBC world super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 KO’s).
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Plant is not oblivious to the fact that the redhead Mexican superstar is the heavy favorite to win. Not only is Alvarez impressively skilled with a tremendous hype machine behind him, he seems virtually impossible to defeat on the cards. Going a step further, between the two, Canelo has the far superior resume. Even when taking all this into account, Plant remains undaunted. For his money, Canelo is merely an interloper who has stumbled into his native hunting grounds. Let Sweethands tell it, he has all the tools needed to topple Alvarez from his high coveted perch.
“You know I possess a lot of the same skills and attributes that those guys did [fighters who gave Canelo problems]. They gave him a lot of trouble. But I am a full-fledged super middleweight. Even things like Amir Khan, you know I possess a lot of the same skills and speed, but I am six one and a half and a full-fledged super middleweight. I been fighting at this weight for a long time. I won the Golden Gloves and that was at 178-pounds. Since those fights that he’s had trouble with, who has he fought to prove that he no longer has trouble with that?”
TIME TO SHOW AND PROVE!!
Plant has regularly pointed to a number of less than stellar performances that Canelo has submitted in his career. In fact, Sweethands is accurate in stating that the redhead frequently looks less than immaculate when facing top tier opposition. Obviously there is his sole professional loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. Yet, aside from that, Canelo was being out boxed by Amir Khan, Austin Trout, Sergey Kovalev, Erislandy Lara and Gennady Golovkin.
Many will go to their grave swearing that Canelo should have lost to Lara and the first bout with Golovkin. Luckily for Alvarez, he was saved by the judges in those two outings. In the Kovalev and Khan bouts however, it was his power that bailed him out. Assuming that Plant can emulate their success, then he could be a nightmare for the redhead. Yet, at this point, that is a big “if.”
Regardless of outside perception, there is no doubt that Sweethands feels like his victory is imminent. Thankfully for us fight fans, the thrilling conclusion is close at hand and will likely come with some memorable fireworks! So let’s wait and see who is destined to make super middleweight history!
“I know I am the hungrier fighter!”
By: Bakari Simpson
