NEWS: Canelo Álvarez and Caleb Plant Set For Historic Undisputed Super Middleweight Championship Event

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CANELO ÁLVAREZ AND CALEB PLANT SET FOR
HISTORIC UNDISPUTED SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT LIVE ON SHOWTIME PPV® SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6

Pound-For-Pound King Álvarez and Undefeated Champion Plant Square Off Live at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas
in a Premier Boxing Champions Event

Boxing’s consensus No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter, Mexican superstar and unified WBA/WBC/WBO Super Middleweight World Champion Canelo Álvarez will face undefeated IBF Super Middleweight World Champion Caleb “Sweethands” Plant in a historic showdown on Saturday, November 6, live on SHOWTIME PPV at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas in a Premier Boxing Champions event.

Canelo, a four-division world champion, will look to capture undisputed status for the first time in his Hall of Fame-caliber career as he returns to SHOWTIME where he made his pay-per-view main event debut in September 2013. The unbeaten and supremely talented Plant attempts to earn a career-defining victory and keep his perfect record intact as he makes his fourth world title defense. The winner of the November 6 bout will stamp his name in the history books as the first undisputed 168-pound world champion of the four-belt era.

“This is the most highly anticipated fight of the year and rightfully so,’’ said Tom Brown, President of TGB Promotions. “Canelo Álvarez has proven to be one of the best boxers in the sport today and he is seeking to become the first ever undisputed super middleweight champion. And Caleb Plant, who is a skilled technician in the ring and extremely confident in his abilities, wants to make history and not become a footnote. Both men will bring fire and determination into the ring and the eyes of the sports world will be focused on the action at MGM Grand on the evening of November 6.’’

“We are very happy to have been able to reach an agreement for this fight as we look to make history in becoming the first undisputed champion of Mexico or Latin America, and just the sixth man in the history of boxing,” said Canelo’s manager Eddy Reynoso. “We are going to train very hard, focus on growing the sport of boxing and plan to lift up the name of Mexico.”

“In one of our most prolific years to date, SHOWTIME has delivered 17 live boxing events in 2021 so far with several more to come. None more significant, however, than November 6,” said Stephen Espinoza, President, SHOWTIME Sports. “We are proud to welcome Canelo Álvarez back to SHOWTIME, now as the consensus No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world and the sport’s biggest draw. We also welcome undefeated world champion Caleb Plant to the network as both men chase a historic, undisputed world title in the most anticipated fight of the year.”

Tickets for the live event are on sale now and can be purchased at AXS.com. The event is promoted by Canelo Promotions and TGB Promotions andsponsored by Hennessy and Value.

Having already captured world titles at 154, 160, 168 and 175-pounds, Canelo (56-1-2, 38 KOs) has amassed a Hall of Fame resume at just 31-years-old. The fighting pride of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, Canelo began his quest for the undisputed super middleweight championship in December 2020 by defeating then unbeaten Callum Smith to capture the WBA and WBC titles. Most recently, Canelo added the WBO belt via a stoppage victory over previously undefeated Billy Joe Saunders in May. November 6 will be Canelo’s first attempt at an undisputed title.

Under the guidance of Reynoso, his renowned coach, Canelo has faced and triumphed over a long list of elite fighters since turning pro at just 15-years-old in 2005. Shane Mosley, Gennadiy Golovkin, Erislandy Lara, Miguel Cotto and Sergey Kovalev are among them. Canelo’s lone professional defeat came against undefeated legend Floyd Mayweather in September 2013.

"At the end of the day, this is what I want to do with my career, make history,” said Canelo. “These things, like becoming the first to be the unified champion at 168 pounds, is making history. To potentially be one of the few who holds this prestigious honor in any weight class makes me very happy. For my country, this would be a huge accomplishment. I want to be remembered as one of the greatest in the history of the sport."

The 28-year-old Plant (21-0, 12 KOs) captured his world title and burst onto the 168-pound scene by defeating Jose Uzcategui in January 2019. Plant was the underdog coming into the Uzcategui fight. He quickly set the tone scoring two early knockdowns on his way to a clear unanimous decision victory. It was an emotional night for Plant, who had dedicated his championship win to the memory of his late daughter, Alia, who passed away in 2015.

A native of Ashland City, Tennessee, Plant now lives and trains in Las Vegas, guided by his trainer Justin Gamber, along with his father and co-trainer Richie Plant. Caleb has successfully defended his title three times, dominating Mike Lee to earn a third-round stoppage at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in July 2019. He then earned a TKO victory over Vincent Feigenbutz in a homecoming bout in Nashville in 2020. Most recently, Plant bested former super middleweight world champion Caleb Truax, winning a unanimous decision in their January clash.

“On November 6, the world will witness boxing’s first ever crowned undisputed super middleweight champion,” said Plant. “When my hand is raised in victory, the world will know then, that I’m the new face of boxing. Everyone should order the PPV now and get their popcorn ready, because I’m about to put on a performance that will go down in history as one of the best ever. This man is in trouble.”

CALEB PLANT SWEEPS ROGELIO MEDINA IN TWELVE

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Photo courtesy of Juan Yepez / Premier Boxing Champions

By Crown Boxing

In what was supposed to be a night to test the Ashland City contender Caleb Plant for the first time in his career turned out to be no more than a pop quiz as the one they call "Sweet Hands" did all the schooling on Saturday night.

In what was billed as an IBF Super Middleweight title eliminator, Porky Medina once again stood in the way of a young hungry fighter ready to make his claim as the best the 168 lbs division has to offer. Medina has been used as a stepping stone for current or former world champions Badou Jack, James DeGale, David Benavidez and Gilberto Ramirez. This fight served to see if Plant was ready to add his name to the top crop of best fighters at Super Middleweight.  

As expected, Porky put on the pressure, willingly chasing his opponent around the ring looking to land something meaningful to earn respect. However, it was Caleb who played matador as he seemingly took Medina apart with counter and lead left hooks while peppering him with jabs the entire night. It was a masterful display of ring generalship as Plant cruised to a 12 round unanimous decision win that places him as in the #2 spot in the IBF world rankings. 

 

 

Caleb Plant Easily Out-Boxes ‘Porky’ Medina, Remains Unbeaten

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Boxing Scene - By Keith Idec

Caleb Plant didn’t exactly excite the crowd in El Paso, Texas, but he boxed well and picked apart Rogelio Medina on Saturday night.

The tactical Plant peppered Medina with jabs, used his athleticism to consistently move out of Medina’s punching range and won their 12-round super middleweight match by unanimous decision. Each of the three judges credited Plant with a wide win (120-108, 119-109, 117-111).

FOX televised Plant’s win as part of the Devon Alexander-Victor Ortiz undercard from the Don Haskins Center.

The Ashland City, Tennessee native’s victory over Medina improved Plant’s record to 17-0 (10 KOs). Mexico’s Medina (38-9, 32 KOs) has lost three of his past five fights.

Medina, 29, was considered a step up in competition for Plant based on the level of opponents Medina has fought during his 10-year pro career. Current or former super middleweight champions David Benavidez, James DeGale, Badou Jack and Gilberto Ramirez all have defeated Medina.

His experience notwithstanding, Medina seemed sluggish a day after failing to make weight for their IBF 168-pound elimination match. He came forward from the opening bell to the final bell, though, because Plant couldn’t hurt him and Plant was content to stick and move his way to victory.

Plant’s plan was obvious in the first two rounds, when he mostly moved away from Medina and flicked occasional jabs.

By the third round, Plant seemed more relaxed and began throwing more punches against his plodding opponent. A right hand by Plant in that round drew blood from Medina’s nose.

Medina continued following Plant around the ring during the fourth and fifth rounds, and he didn’t have much success. Plant continued to control the action in the sixth round, until Medina landed a left to the body that made Plant hold briefly just before that round ended.

Plant fell to canvas after the bell sounded to end the seventh round, but because their legs got tangled.

A frustrated Medina often challenged Plant to stand and fight. Plant ignored his opponent’s taunts and stuck to his game plan.

Medina managed to land several hard head and body shots during the 11th round that slowed down Plant. The rugged veteran pressured Plant throughout the 12th round as well, but Plant moved, ducked and held his way to the final bell.

Following FOX’s broadcast of the Plant-Medina match, unbeaten lightweight prospect Karlos Balderas went the distance for the first time as a pro.

The 21-year-old Balderas (4-0, 3 KOs) clearly out-boxed Mexico’s Jorge Rojas to win a four-round unanimous decision, but he wasn’t able to put his opponent down. Balderas won all four rounds on each scorecard (40-36, 40-36, 40-36).

Balderas, a 2016 Olympian from Santa Maria, California, rocked Rojas with a right hand to the side of his head barely 20 seconds into their scheduled four-round bout. Despite that early difficulty, Rojas became the first out of Balderas’ four pro opponents to make it out of the first round.

He didn’t land many flush punches in the bout, yet Rojas showed Balderas that he won’t be able to tear through every opponent. Balderas landed a very low left hand that caused a brief break in the action with 38 seconds remaining in the second round.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.