Caleb Plant confident of beating Canelo Alvarez

By Boxing News - 10/12/2021 - Comments

By Allan Fox: Caleb Plant is confident that he has enough talent to defeat Canelo Alvarez in their undisputed super middleweight fight next month on November 6th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Plant (21-0, 12 KOs) feels that he’s got areas of his game that are superior to Canelo (56-1-2, 38 KOs), and he’s going to be showing the fans those areas are when he battles the Mexican star on Showtime PPV.

The odds-makers aren’t giving Plant, 28, too much of a chance to win, but he doesn’t care what they say. He knows what he can do, and he’s going to be taking care of business.

Plant says he’s got the skills to win

Canelo drew first blood when he shoved Plant and then struck him with a right hand during their face-off last month in Los Angeles.

Plant was wearing sunglasses at the time and ended up being cut from the frames scrapping his right cheek when Canelo hit him.

I feel like I have all the skills in the world and a great team around me,” said Plant. “When the bell rings, I’m just looking forward to showing the world what I can do.

“I believe that there are a handful of things that I am better than Canelo at in the ring.

It’s not going to matter what I say right now; people aren’t going to believe me anyway,” said Plant.

These are the things Plant has:

  • Jab
  • Hand speed
  • Mobility
  • Height
  • Reach
  • Punch output

An area that many boxing fans are overlooking in this fight is the superior punch output that Plant has. Since Canelo has moved up to 168, his punch output has dropped off from where it was when he was campaigning at 154 and 160.

Canelo has stamina problems that limit his punch output, and there’s not much he can do about that. I mean, you’re not going to see Canelo throw 80 to 100 punches against Plant because he doesn’t have the engine.

Plant could dramatically outwork Canelo on November 6th, putting him in a tough position to where he might need a knockout to win.

If Canelo fights with anger instead of being calm, it could play into Plant’s favor because he’ll pick him apart if he starts wildly swinging for the fences.

Plant can win if he’s in good condition

“I got Plant doing really good in the beginning of the rounds, boxing and boxing him,” said Teofimo Lopez Sr. to Fighthype in analyzing the Canelo vs. Plant fight.

Image: Caleb Plant confident of beating Canelo Alvarez

“If he’s [Plant] in good condition where he can go 12 rounds doing that, I got him winning. But I see Canelo breaking him down in the seventh or eighth round just like he did with [Billy Joe] Saunders.

“Saunders was doing a great job until he got hit with an uppercut, and that’s what I see with Plant. If Plant slows down, he’s in trouble.

“If Plant works his a** off for the whole 12 rounds and is not scared of Canelo, he’ll be victorious, but it’s very hard. Everybody is scared of Canelo. All these guys are.

“I don’t think there’s anybody out there that can beat him because Canelo has a good chin. He’s got a really good chin,” said Teofimo Sr. when asked if David Benavidez or Jermall Charlo has the best chance of beating Canelo.

“You’ve seen it fight through fight through fight; he’s never been wobbled,” said Teofimo about Canelo’s ability to take a hard shot. “He takes your punches, and he just commits and comes in,” said Teofimo Sr.

Plant can’t afford to gas out as he did in his fight with Jose Uzcategui in 2019 if he wants to win against Canelo. Even if Plant builds up a big lead through the first eight rounds, Canelo will catch up to him and possibly knock him out if he gasses during the championship rounds.

Canelo will get to Plant eventually

“His style is a good style because he likes to work that body shot. I learned a lot of things from Canelo that I’ve implemented with my son, especially those body shots that he throws. It’s really hard to beat someone like that.

“He’s strong; he doesn’t mind getting hit,” Teofimo Sr. said of Canelo. “He just keeps coming forward. Like I told Plant, ‘The only way you’re going to beat this guy is big condition.’

“You’ve got to be in great condition to beat Canelo. He could beat him. He’s probably going to win a lot of rounds, but eventually, Canelo is going to catch up to him,” said Teofimo Sr. on his prediction that Canelo will get to Plant at some point and stop him.

Teofimo could be right with his prediction of a knockout win for Canelo, but only if Plant fades down the stretch. If Plant fights the way he did against Vincent Feigenbutz, it’s going to be awfully hard for Canelo to win other than by controversial decision.