Canelo Álvarez Hopes to Unify the Belts at 168 Pounds

“That’s understandable, given that Álvarez wants the biggest, legacy-defining fights available at this point in his career,” Stephen Espinoza, the president of Showtime Sports, said. “This is a legacy-defining fight for a fighter who already has a hall-of-fame résumé. Or it could be the elevation of Caleb Plant to an entirely new level of stardom.”

Álvarez, who has held world titles in four weight classes, will enter Saturday’s bout as the betting favorite and the A-side fighter. He’s a veteran whose tactics shift as opponents and situations dictate — a boxer-puncher in his 2013 win over Austin Trout, and a come-forward slugger in recent wins over Billy Joe Saunders and Callum Smith.

“I want to make history. That’s what motivates me,” Álvarez, who is 56-1-2, said. “I’m still improving, every day.”

Plant is a technical, tactical boxer who recognizes that a series of challengers, like Saunders and Smith, have tried and failed to beat Álvarez with skill and strategy. Their plans unraveled in the middle rounds, when Álvarez began landing heavy punches.

But Plant, a 29-year-old from Ashland City, Tenn., promises a different outcome. He has spent his whole career as a super-middleweight, and he will enter the ring with advantages in size and reach.

“There’s been a handful of guys who have had a good amount of success against Canelo,” Plant, a national Golden Gloves champion in 2011, said. “I’m a full-fledged super-middleweight. I possess a lot of the same skills and ring I.Q. that those guys do, but I’m 6-1 and a half.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/05/sports/canelo-alvarez-caleb-plant-boxing.html