Wikipedia

Canelo Álvarez vs. Caleb Plant

Canelo Álvarez vs. Caleb Plant was a professional boxing match contested on November 6, 2021, for the undisputed super middleweight championship.[1]

Canelo Álvarez vs. Caleb Plant
DateNovember 6, 2021
VenueMGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
Title(s) on the lineWBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO, The Ring and TBRB undisputed super middleweight title
Tale of the tape
Boxer Saúl Álvarez Caleb Plant
Nickname Canelo
("Cinnamon")		 "Sweet Hands"
Hometown Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico Ashland City, Tennessee, U.S.
Purse $40,000,000 $10,000,000
Pre-fight record 56–1–2 (38 KO) 21–0 (12 KO)
Age 31 years, 3 months 29 years, 3 months
Height 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 168 lb (76 kg) 167 lb (76 kg)
Style Orthodox Orthodox
Recognition WBA (Super), WBC, WBO, and The Ring
Super Middleweight Champion
TBRB
No. 1 Ranked Super Middleweight
The Ring No. 1 ranked pound-for-pound fighter
4-division world champion		 IBF
Super Middleweight Champion
The Ring/TBRB
No. 2 Ranked Super Middleweight
Result
Álvarez wins via 11th-round TKO

The bout took place at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada and would determine the first undisputed super middleweight champion in boxing history. Álvarez won the bout via 11th-round technical knockout.[2]

Background

edit

A deal was closed for the fight to take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada on September 18, 2021,[3] but talks broke down over disagreements in the contract.[4] A potential fight with WBA (Super) light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol then seemed likely for Álvarez, however the September 18 date was scrapped. A deal was revisited between the two parties for a fight in November 2021.[5] On August 19, 2021, both fighters were confirmed to have agreed to terms and soon afterwards, the fight was officially announced on Álvarez's Instagram page.[6]

On September 21, 2021, the two fighters were engaged in a brief onstage scuffle during their first press conference, in which Álvarez initiated physical contact during their face-off when he shoved Plant. Álvarez stated that he had done this because he took offense to Plant's use of the word "motherfucker", interpreting it as an insult to his mother. Plant denied to reporters that he had used the common American curse word in that context. Moreover, he drew attention to Álvarez's hypocrisy, accurately indicating that Álvarez had previously used the same slur against Demetrius Andrade on the night of May 8, 2021 in the aftermath of his fight against Billy Joe Saunders in Arlington, Texas.[7][8]

The bouts featured on the PPV undercard were announced on October 18, 2021, with Anthony Dirrell facing off against Marcos Hernandez, Rey Vargas going up against Leonardo Baez, and Elvis Rodriguez taking on Juan Pablo Romero.[9]

The fight

edit

Plant would use feints, an educated jab and smooth footwork to stay off the ropes and mostly out of harm's way for the first few rounds. However Alvarez would break Plant down with relentless pressure and dedicated attacks to the body. In round 10, a left hook followed by a right uppercut sent Plant down, he beat the count but appeared to be on unsteady legs and in the next round a barrage of shots sent him down again prompting referee Russell Mora to wave it off giving Álvarez a TKO victory.[10][11][12] At the time of the stoppage, Álvarez was ahead on the scorecards with 98–92, 96–94, and 97–93. ESPN has it 98–92 for Álvarez.[13][14] With the victory, Álvarez had become only the fourth boxer to be an undisputed champion since the four-belt era began in 2007, following Terence Crawford, Oleksandr Usyk and Josh Taylor.[15]

Aftermath

edit

At the WBC Convention on 15 November in Mexico City, the WBC approved the request of Álvarez's trainer and manager, Eddy Reynoso, to have Álvarez challenge Ilunga Makabu for his WBC cruiserweight title. Álvarez has never competed at cruiserweight, so Reynoso had needed to petition the WBC to order the title fight. The fight had been rumoured to take place in May 2022.[16][17] This ultimately did not materialize, as Makabu was forced into a mandatory defense of his title in a rematch against Thabiso Mchunu on 29 January 2022. Instead, it was announced on 25 February 2022 that Álvarez had signed a two-fight deal with Matchroom Boxing; the first fight would see him returning to the light heavyweight division to challenge undefeated WBA champion Dmitry Bivol on 7 May.[18]

Fight card

edit

Confirmed bouts:[19]

Weight Class vs. Method Round Time Notes
Super middleweight   Canelo Álvarez (c) def.   Caleb Plant (c) TKO 11/12 1:05 Note 1
Super middleweight   Anthony Dirrell def.   Marcos Hernandez KO 4/10 0:22
Super bantamweight   Rey Vargas def.   Leonardo Baez UD 10/10
Super lightweight   Elvis Rodriguez def.   Juan Pablo Romero KO 5/10 2:59

^Note 1 For WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO and The Ring super middleweight titles

Broadcasting

edit
Country/Region Free-to-air Cable/Satellite PPV Stream
  United States (host) — Showtime[20]
  Mexico Azteca 7

Azteca Uno

adn40

A Más

— TV Azteca Deportes
  Australia — Main Event, Kayo Sports
  Latvia — Go3
  United Kingdom — BT Sport Box Office[21]
  Ireland
  Japan — Wowow —
  Russia — Match TV —
  Turkey — S Sport Plus[22]
Unsold markets — FITE TV[23]

Reception

edit

The fight generated a live gate of around $18,000,000 from the 16,586 tickets sold in the sold-out show.[24] The card was reported to have sold around 800,000 PPV buys in the US.[24] At the price of $79.95, the card generated roughly $64 million of domestic revenue.[24]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Saul Alvarez vs. Caleb Plant". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  2. ^ "Canelo Alvarez vs. Caleb Plant results, highlights: Alvarez becomes undisputed champion with 11th-round TKO". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  3. ^ Lance Pugmire [@pugboxing] (25 July 2021). "Official: "Only small details" remain before @Canelo @SweetHandsPlant is finalized for Sept. 18 on FOX at @MGMGrand. All four 168-pound belts on the line, as @Canelo and @CANELOTEAM seek rare Triple Crown of fighter, trainer and manager of the year feat in 2021" (Tweet). Retrieved 26 July 2021 – via Twitter.
  4. ^ "Canelo Alvarez-Caleb Plant fight talks break off with sources saying deal is dead". ESPN. 27 July 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Canelo Alvarez-Caleb Plant talks for November bout back on". The Athletic. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  6. ^ "BREAKING NEWS: The Ring has learned Canelo Alvarez-Caleb Plant fight is on for Nov. 6 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas". The Ring. 19 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  7. ^ Idec, Keith. "Plant: Canelo Said 'Motherf-----' To Andrade; But When I Say It, I'm Talking About His Mom?". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  8. ^ "Andrade gets booted from Canelo post-fight presser". The Ring. 10 May 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  9. ^ Christ, Scott (18 October 2021). "Canelo vs Plant pay-per-view undercard announced: Anthony Dirrell, Rey Vargas, more". Bad Left Hook.
  10. ^ "Canelo undisputed champ with late TKO of Plant". ESPN. 7 November 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  11. ^ Pugmire, Lance. "Canelo Alvarez stops Caleb Plant to become undisputed super middleweight champ: Round-by-round analysis". USA TODAY. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  12. ^ "Canelo batters and stops Caleb Plant to become first-ever undisputed super-middleweight champion | DAZN News US". DAZN. 7 November 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  13. ^ "Canelo Alvarez vs. Caleb Plant: Official Scorecards". 7 November 2021.
  14. ^ "Canelo Alvarez vs Caleb Plant scorecards at the time of the stoppage revealed". 9 November 2021.
  15. ^ "Canelo Alvarez stops Caleb Plant in 11, becoming first to fully unify at 168". The Ring. 7 November 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  16. ^ "Canelo gets OK to chase title in fifth weight class". ESPN. 17 November 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  17. ^ Sam, Doric. "Canelo Alvarez vs. Ilunga Makabu Cruiserweight Title Fight Approved by WBC". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  18. ^ Idec, Keith (25 February 2022). "Canelo's 2-Fight Deal With DAZN Done: Bivol On May 7, Golovkin On September 17". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  19. ^ "BoxRec - event".
  20. ^ Coppinger, Mike (18 September 2021). "Sources: Canelo-Plant moved to Showtime PPV". espn.com. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  21. ^ "BT Sport Box Office to show Alvarez vs Plant exclusively live". BT.com. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  22. ^ "Canelo Alvarez-Caleb Plant Unvan Maçı S Sport Plus'ta". sporekrani.com (in Turkish). Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  23. ^ "▷ PBC Canelo Alvarez vs Caleb Plant - Official PPV Replay". FITE. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  24. ^ a b c Dan Rafael (12 November 2021). "Canelo vs. Plant Pay Per View numbers prove P4P King's star power". worldboxingnews.net.


Preceded by Canelo Álvarez's bouts
6 November 2021 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Caleb Plant's bouts
6 November 2021 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Canelo_Álvarez_vs._Caleb_Plant&oldid=1252225647"