Caleb Plant Believes He’s ‘Worthy’ Of Rematch With Canelo Alvarez But Won’t ‘Beg’
Former super-middleweight world champion Caleb Plant believes he is “worthy” of a rematch with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez but says he won’t “beg for a fight”.
Plant (22-2-0 13 KO) returns to the ring on September 14 against Trevor McCumby (28-0-0 21 KO) at the T Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Their bout will be on the undercard of unified champion Canelo’s bout with Edgar Berlanga.
Plant, who is aiming to return to winning ways having lost on points to David Benavidez in December, was initially slated to face McCumby on August 17 only for the unbeaten fighter to suffer a cut in training.
The pushed date could be a blessing in disguise for the Nashville native because a convincing victory could put him back on Canelo’s radar. Plant, then the IBF world champion, and Alvarez shared a ring in November 2021 in an undisputed bout, with the Mexican sealing the victory in an 11th-round stoppage following a competitive bout in Las Vegas.
“With us getting moved to the Canelo card, it could spark those conversations for a rematch,” Plant told BoxingScene. “It doesn’t matter where they put me. They can put me in the parking lot and we can fight. As you know, I’m not just in it to get a payday. I’m coming to fight. And right now I’m focused on fighting Trevor, and I am excited to be part of a big event.
“Who knows how likely [a rematch with Canelo] is, but I feel that it’s worthy, especially since we had a competitive fight the first time. It was probably 6-4 the first time going into the 11th. I feel like it’s worthy. But I’ve never been the type of guy to beg for a fight.”
A fight with Canelo remains the ultimate goal for all fighters in the super-middleweight division, both for the Mexican’s belts and profile, and for the payday that comes with it. However, Alvarez is the one to call the shots, happy to shun mandatory challengers even if it means surrendering belts – as was the case when the IBF stripped him of its title for failing to face William Scull.
Both Benavidez and David Morrell, holders of the WBC and WBA interim titles respectively, lost patience for their shots at Canelo and duly moved to light-heavyweight. Benavidez, in particular, chased the Mexican for more than two years and was essentially ignored, with Alvarez saying he wouldn’t entertain a fight for anything less than $150 million.
Plant, who is ranked No 7 by the WBA, hopes the success of his first bout against Canelo, which was reported to have had 800,000 pay-per-view buys, will work in his favor for any potential rematch.
“He didn’t do that against Gennadiy Golovkin, Dmitry Bivol, or Jermell Charlo,” said Plant. “We’ve done some good numbers, and I feel that I’m a good sell in boxing. I have a big fan base and a lot of people tune in to watch me fight.”
The build-up to their 2021 fight may have been filled with tension and animosity but Plant and Alvarez have been friendly and respectful with each other in the years since. Canelo even jumped to Plant’s defense when Berlanga took a shot at the former champion during a recent press conference.
“That was cool. I was minding my business and Edgar wanted to bring my name up, and Canelo said what he said,” said Plant. “He’s shown me a lot of respect [since we fought] and I’ve done the same toward him. But there is still competitive tension in there. He’s a fierce competitor, and so am I. We’ll see what the future holds. I’m just going to continue to face who they put in front of me and chase the biggest fights that I can.”
