Canelo Alvarez being asked to sign 3-fight deal to get Caleb Plant match-up

By Will Arons - 07/13/2021 - Comments

According to promoter Eddie Hearn, Canelo Alvarez is being asked to ink a three-fight deal with FOX for him to get a fight with Caleb Plant on September 18th.

It’s not looking good for the 28-year-old Plant, who Hearn feels is being used as a “pawn” by his management to get Canelo to sign a multi-fight deal. Not surprisingly, Hearn says Canelo is NOT going to agree to the deal.

If Plant and his management don’t decide on the one-fight deal, they’ll be moving on after this week to face potentially one of the two 175-lb champions, Artur Beterbiev or Dimitry Bivol, next.

He states that Plant’s management is attempting to use Canelo’s interest in fighting for the IBF 168-lb title as a way of getting him to sign a three-fight deal with their network.

Hearn and Canelo are interested in just a one-off fight with Plant (21-0, 12 KOs) for the undisputed super middleweight championship.

If the fight ends up on FOX rather than DAZN, so be it. Canelo (56-1-2, 38 KOs) wants to beat Plant to take his IBF title and add it to his collection of titles in the weight class.

Canelo Alvarez being asked to sign 3-fight deal to get Caleb Plant match-up

A victory for Canelo would make him the undisputed four-belt champion at 168, an honor that he values greatly.

Canelo sees it as a great honor to become the unified champion, but the boxing public is not wrapped up in this nearly as much.

Fans no longer value all the trinket titles, as there are too many mediocre beat-holders, particularly the ones that Canelo has been fighting lately.

For Canelo to win his three belts at 168 thus far, he’s beaten these three flawed UK fighters:

  • Rocky Fielding
  • Callum Smith
  • Billy Joe Saunders

Caleb Plant fits in quite nicely with that motley group of weak belt-holders at 168, which is why the fans won’t lose any sleep if Canelo gives up on his quest to become the undisputed champion.

“[PBC] would prefer to do a three-fight deal, obviously, with Canelo Alvarez,” Hearn said to the DAZN Boxing Show. “This is their opportunity to try and allure him to the network.

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“I feel like Caleb Plant shouldn’t be a pawn in this,” Hearn continued. Caleb Plant is a guy that should get the best deal and the best opportunity for this fight, but unfortunately, that’s boxing, but we’ll see where it goes.”

Hearn says Plant and his team need to agree by this week because Canelo will move on after that. Canelo needs to have his next fight locked up right away to stick to the September 18th date.

Eddie says they’ll try and revisit the negotiations with Plant for December if it doesn’t pan out this week.

Although Hearn didn’t mention Gennadiy Golovkin’s name, he’s someone that DAZN reportedly contacted as a backup option for Canelo’s September fight.

It would be a real surprise if Canelo fights GGG again, but he’s got a better chance to get the fight than Demetrius Andrade, who recently invaded Alvarez’s post-fight press conference on May 8th to call him out.

Negotiating a fight with IBF/WBC 175-lb champion Artur Beterbiev (16-0, 16 KOs) might not be doable for Matchroom Boxing in a short period of time.

Canelo Alvarez being asked to sign 3-fight deal to get Caleb Plant match-up

The easier fight to be made for Canelo is against the Matchroom-promoted Bivol (18-0, 11 KOs), but that’s also a very tough fight on paper. Bivol is a stronger, more technical type of fighter than Plant, and it’s one that Canelo would lose.

Even if Canelo beats Bivol, it won’t be easy like it’s been for him with his victories over the low-quality 168-lb champions Saunders, Callum, and Fielding.

The boxing public would prefer to see Canelo fight Bivol, Beterbiev, or David Benavidez over Caleb Plant, who is another Billy Joe Saunders type of weak-punching finesse fighter.

Plant is pretty much on the same level as guys like Vincent Feigenbutz as far as name recognition goes. Literally, the only thing Plant has going for him is his IBF title, which he won against Jose Uzcategui.

22 thoughts on “Canelo Alvarez being asked to sign 3-fight deal to get Caleb Plant match-up”

  1. Canelo started at jr. welterweight and has been challenged to fight all the way up to light heavyweight so how all the other, “ great fighters” don’t do the same thing and pursue the “best” at other divisions, for instance, start writing about how Bivol and Beterbiev should come down to super middleweight if they’re not afraid of Canelo.

  2. After he beats up Caleb Plant then he will have to fight them other guys if they want what he has!! Unification !! Jus sayin

  3. Another coveted belt might slip away? Who cares if the Plant fight doesn’t get made. The opposition has been mostly mediocre and better opposition is out there. It’s not like Canelo has never trashed or surrendered a belt before. All of a sudden he’s chasing a legacy. Fine then make fights with better opponents. 3 Bs- Benavidez, Bivol and Beterbiev. Those names would be a good start.

  4. There are a lot of you people are just haters and hate the truth you All know the truth canelo is the best win or lose so just sit back and keep your negative thoughts to yourself

  5. You should write for FOX news. They script and rehearse everything to brainwash their audience. They turn words and assumptions- mere speculation. The strategy Canelo is utilizing to amass “trinket belts” is so simple/obvious to understand yet above your capacity of understanding. You kinda know how to write so you should practice that before thinking you can master reading the minds of SUPERSTAR BOXERS.

  6. Canelo is the man on top at the moment, I wish him nothing but the best…People’s Champ.!! 👊

  7. Canelo is an awesome fighter and a future HoF, no question about that. However, I do think that the Super Middleweight division is flooded with mediocre fighters in my opinion. Best fighters at that weight class are Canelo and Benavidez in my opinion. Canelo is chasing history for undisputed with the least resistance in my opinion. Nonetheless, Canelo is a great fighter and has fought some awesome fighters in his career.

  8. Both callum smith and billy joe Saunders were undefeated, if Canelo beats plant (another undefeated fighter) he will be undisputed at 168….flawed fighters my ass!!! What is this guy talking about!??

    • Haha bro I agree, the guy keeps saying there basically nobody and there weak he’s crazy saying flawd

  9. People shouldnt discredit Canelos opponents considering he’s beaten more top 10, top 5 and number one rated champions then anyone activley fighting. ANYONE. hes taken 11 world titles in 15 fights. Hes beaten more undefeated champions than anyone currently fighting. If he chooses 168 his kingdom then let the others move up or move down to dethrone him.

  10. I don’t see others fighter doing what Canelo doing. If there easy to beat why is Charlo, Andrea and the other fight not going up in weight and challenging this UK fighters instead of just waiting for to he big pay day. Looks like Canelo the smart one and beating them to the punch.

  11. I love it when the writer decides that the fans have no interest in titleholders. What Canelo is doing is paving the way for others to follow. Personally I don’t care for the P4P title or even that he loses, just that he is willing to fight great boxers. Because of that I will watch Canelo and root him on. Everyone else sits on their comfy titles without taking risks. Canelo is the people’s champion and hell yeah line up all those fighters you think can beat him. That is what boxing should be about.

    • That’s the problem. He won’t fight any of the best title holders. All of the best fighters are right here in America and Mexico, and instead of fighting the best here, he goes after the easy European guys. He left Golden boy and DAZN because they wanted him to fight the best and he didn’t want to. I like Canelo but he’s just fighting scrubs

  12. Proud of YOU Canelo kick his ASS you can do it CARNALITO ..Salazar GREG goyo …..68

  13. You clearly don’t know much about boxing. You should try talking about something else your more familiar with.

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