Canelo Alvarez vs. Caleb Plant talks revive for November

Canelo Alvarez and Caleb Plant restarted talks for a fight in November after the Mexican star needed to push his September 18th date.

ESPN Deports reports that IBF super middleweight champion Plant (21-0, 12 KOs) is back in the picture for Canelo’s next fight now that he’s no longer fighting on September 18th.

The negotiations between Canelo and Plant reportedly fell apart recently over Alvarez’s assistance on still getting his $40 million purse even if he faces a replacement opponent if Caleb is injured or ill, causing him to pull out of the fight.

Canelo had already agreed to a catchweight fight at 172 lbs against WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol for the September 18th date. However, there wasn’t enough time for the promotion and the training for the contest.

You hate to say it, but, likely, Canelo never had any true intention in fighting Bivol. He was probably just used as a lark to get a better deal with Plant.

Bivol is arguably too good for Canelo to face when he’s got a purse of $40 million on the table for a fight against Plant. If Canelo were to lose to Bivol, he could forget about getting $40 million for a fight with Plant.

It’s a better fight for Canelo to face Plant because he’s not as dangerous as Bivol and has stamina problems. Bivol doesn’t have the same flaws that Plant possesses, and there would be a chance that Canelo would lose.

“Sept. 18 became tighter and tighter, and we made the decision today to focus on November,” said Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn said to ESPN on the Canelo vs. Bivol fight.

Restarting the negotiations with Plant will renew Canelo’s efforts to become the undisputed 168-lb champion. He’s already done the hard work, winning the WBA, WBC, and WBO super middleweight titles.

Now all Canelo needs to do is defeat IBF champion Plant to win the last title to become the undisputed champion at 168.

Canelo had been in negotiations with Plant recently, agreeing on most of the items in the contract that would have paid him a career-high $40 million. Plant would be getting $10 million, which is also a career-high for him.

With the money that Canelo was previously going to be getting for the Plant fight, it’s understandable why he wants to revisit the talks.

If Canelo vs. Plant negotiations fail to produce a fight for November, they can’t say they didn’t try. They have a couple of months to try and work out a deal to get the match-up made.

Hearn didn’t say who the other options are for Canelo’s November fight. It’s believed that Gennadiy Golovkin and, of course, Bivol are two of the possible opponent for Canelo to fight in November if Hearn is unable to put together the fight with Plant.

Golovkin’s advanced age and inactivity make him a less than desirable opponent for Canelo’s November fight. The Kazakhstan fighter is 39 now, and he’s let his career sink by fighting rarely and facing only non-risky opposition.

 

In Golovkin’s three fights since losing to Canelo in 2018, he’s beaten Steve Rolls, Sergiy Derevyanchenko, and Kamil Szeremeta. It’s believed that Golovkin will sit for the next four months before facing WBA middleweight champion Ryota Murata in December in Japan.
It’ll be a big payday for Golovkin, but it won’t excite many American boxing fans.