Ryan Garcia was impressed with the 11th round knockout Canelo Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KOs) scored against Caleb Plant (21-1, 12 KOs) on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
WBA/WBC/WBO super middleweight champion Canelo knocked previously unbeaten IBF champion Plant down twice in round 11 to get the victory and make history by becoming the first-ever undisputed champion at 168.
Ryan didn’t sound bitter when talking about Canelo’s performance tonight, which is a relief. But when Ryan was asked about Canelo’s criticism of him in the media, he looked hurt.
It was easy to tell that Ryan is upset still about what Canelo said about him, which was helpful advice about him needing to be more focused on his career.
Alvarez struggled at times with Plant’s Mayweather-like moves, and you could see that he really hasn’t improved much since his loss to Floyd in 2013. Plant was making Canelo look bad during many of the rounds, and the fight looked close to being even going into the 11th round.
If Canelo didn’t get the knockout in that round, there’s a good chance that it would have resulted in controversy if the judges gave him a decision win.
“He didn’t really come out fast. Canelo lets people do that and then he broke him down like usual. Canelo does what Canelo does,” said Ryan Garcia to Fight Hub TV on Alvarez’s win over Caleb Plant.
Ringside view of @Canelo making history 😤#CaneloPlant pic.twitter.com/eNh9urZfWe
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) November 7, 2021
“I don’t like inspiration, though. I’m a hungry fighter, and I had a hard year. I understand where he’s coming from. It’s always all love,” said Ryan Garcia in reacting to Canelo having criticized him recently in the media about his lack of dedication that he’s showing with his stalled career.
“I don’t take anything personal. I just know that I had a hard year but I’m fully recovered mentally, and when I get back from this [injured hand], I’m coming for everybody’s heads that said I’m not disciplined or nothing. I’m coming straight for them.
“I’m knocking everybody out, sleep. I’m coming for everybody. I’m going to destroy them, that’s it,” said Ryan.
With the injuries and the anxiety problem that erased his fights with Javier Fortuna and Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz Jr., it’s hard to believe Ryan is going to come back in 2022 to beat the top guys in the 135-lb division.
It’s good that Ryan was able to give Canelo credit because it would have been a bad look on his part if he chose to dump on him.