Canelo Alvarez may be looking in the direction of unbeaten Artur Beterbiev to challenge him for his IBF & WBC light heavyweight titles if he’s successful in becoming the undisputed 168-lb champion on Saturday against Caleb Plant.
Moving up to 175 would give Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 KOs) a chance to do what no other fighter has before him in potentially becoming a two-division undisputed champion if he were to collect all four belts.
Alvarez likes Beterbiev challenge
Canelo was asked on Wednesday if he’d be interested in taking on the big punching Beterbiev (16-0, 16 KOs) in his next fight, and he said he likes the challenge it would present him.
“No, not crazy. I love the idea, and I love challenges,” said Canelo when asked if it would be a crazy idea for him to challenge the unbeaten Beterbiev for his light heavyweight titles after Plant.
Suppose Canelo is serious about wanting to fight the two-time Russian Olympian Beterbiev. In that case, he’ll need to wait for him to take care of his WBC mandatory challenger Marcus Browne (24-1, 16 KOs) next month in their fight on December 17th.
Beterbiev will be free after that to potentially battle Canelo in a mega-fight in 2022. It will be an excellent match-up if Canelo chooses to fight Beterbiev, as he would be facing a guy that many boxing fans view as the #1 fighter in the 175-lb division today.
While Canelo already got his feet wet in 2019 at 175 in defeating then WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev to become a four-division world champ, he wasn’t fighting the best in the weight class.
By that point in Kovalev’s career, he wasn’t the same fighter he’d been six years earlier when he was viewed as one of the best in the 175-lb division.
If Canelo faces Beterbiev, he would be taking on the top dog in the division in a risky fight. Beterbiev has the punching power and the fighting style to knock out Canelo. It could be a disaster for Canelo if he can’t handle Beterbiev’s power.
We’ll see if Canelo is still motivated to fight Beterbiev after the IBF/WBC 175-lb champion defends against Browne on December 17th at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada.
If Beterbiev looks too good against Browne, he might scare Canelo off, which would disappoint the boxing world. At 37, Beterbiev is getting up there in age, and Canelo will need to fight him soon if he wants credit for opposing him.
Waiting until Beterbiev is 40 before fighting him will further the belief that many boxing fans have about Canelo in that he’s an opportunist who faces dangerous fighters after they get old and show vulnerability.
Canelo’s trainer predicting KO win over Plant
“Our strategy is to pressure Plant from the first bell on, to win round by round, and to look for the KO,” said Canelo’s trainer Eddy Reynoso via Fightnews. “I’m confident that we can get the knockout, and we are going to go to the body of Plant and then go to the head and get that victory.
“All the antics from Plant in the press conference made Saul’s blood boil,” said Reynoso.
It would be suitable for Canelo to get any victory over IBF super middleweight champion Plant. Canelo doesn’t need to try and prove a point against Plant because of what he said about him being a “drug cheat” the boxing public has already heard before. Canelo knocking out Plant won’t make any of that disappear.
Plant does well against fighters that come to slug with him, as he’s got the Mayweather style of fighting that makes it difficult for sluggers to land their heavy shots.
