By Jeff Aronow: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says PBC is betting big with them paying huge money for the purses for Canelo Alvarez vs. Caleb Plant 168-lb unification fight on November 6th on FOX Sports pay-per-view.
For the fight to make money, it’ll need to bring in more than the monstrous purses Canelo and Plant are getting at the top of the card.
The combined purses for just the two main event fighters Canelo and Plant (21-0, 12 KOs), is $50 million, which doesn’t count what the rest of the card will be getting. Canelo, 31, is getting $40 million and Plant around $10 million.
Unfortunately, Plant isn’t a big name, and he’s viewed as a sure-thing win for Canelo.
With those high purses for just the main event between Alvarez and Plant, it’s unlikely the undercard will be stacked.
PBC taking a big risk on Canelo vs. Plant
If PBC wants to risk it all, they can stack the card from top to bottom with talent in hopes that it’ll lure the fence-sitters to purchase the event on FOX Sports PPV.
It’ll be a huge risk, though, because if Canelo-Plant bombs on PPV, the event organizers will take a bath.
If Canelo were fighting someone like David Benavidez, it would be worth the risk to pay the huge purses for the fight because it’s a match that would sell. Benavidez is viewed as having a real shot at beating Canelo, and many fans are eager to see them fight.
Boxing fans see Plant as an unproven fighter who has virtually no shot at beating Canelo, making it a tough sell on pay-per-view without the price being low.
That’s not going to happen. This event will likely sell for $75 on FOX Sports PPV on November 6th, and that could be out of the price range for many fans, who aren’t eager to pay that kind of money to watch Canelo beat up on a fighter that is arguably a paper champion in Plant.
It would be an easier sell if Plant had at least one notable win on his record, like David Benavidez, Gennadiy Golovkin, Jermall Charlo, Demetrius Andrade, or Dimitry Bivol. The only name Plant has on his resume is Jose Uzcategui, who was never that good of a fighter, to begin with.
Canelo-Plant need to sell their fight
That’s why it’s in the best interest for Canelo and Plant to begin promoting their fight right now ahead of the November 6th date, as they need to ensure that the fight event brings in big numbers.
Thus far, Plant appears to be the only one hyping the event. Canelo hasn’t been speaking to the media to sell the contest, and that’s worrisome because he’s not a huge fight that can sell itself.
To his credit, Plant is doing an excellent job of marketing his fight with Canelo, but he can’t do it alone. Canelo has to do his part to make the November 6th event a success.
Arum told WBN that the reason he believes that Premier Boxing Champions are willing to negotiate for the fight between WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford and Shawn Porter is that they’re pouring so much money into paying the purses for Canelo vs. Plant fight on November 6th.
They don’t want to take on an additional burden right now with the Crawford-Porter fight.
“When they look at their situation, they have a tremendous amount that they’ve bet on the Canelo fight, and to take on a burden like this, an additional burden, is not easy,” Arum said to World Boxing News about PBC staging the Canelo – Plant match on November 6th, and paying $50M in combined purses for just this headliner fight.
“So, that may be one of the reasons why they may opt for us to do the event.”