Canelo Alvarez set to confirm his next fight, expected for November
- Joe Hewlett
- 14 August 2021
“They do want to fight Caleb Plant. That is what they want at the end of the day.”
Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez is close to confirming Caleb Plant as his next opponent, according to ESPN.
The Mexican is set to take on Nashville's Plant in a super middleweight unification clash in November. FOX PPV is set to host the mega-event.
Canelo - who holds the WBC, WBA and WBO belts - is looking to add the IBF crown to become the first undisputed champion at 168lbs.
Should the Pound for Pound king win, he will more than likely move back up to 175lbs and challenge Artur Beterbiev and Joe Smith Jr.
Canelo previously held the WBO version at light heavyweight having knocked out Sergey Kovalev in spectacular fashion in 2019.
"Let's just delay this to late October, early November," said Eddie Hearn to DAZN on what Canelo's trainer and manager Eddy Reynoso said about a potential clash against Dmitry Bivol on September 18.
"They do want to fight Caleb Plant. That is what they want at the end of the day," Hearn continued. "Dmitry Bivol is there, he accepted the fight, he's ready to fight, but the ultimate goal for Canelo is to be undisputed at 168lbs.
"So they'll [Canelo] reignite that and see what Al Haymon says for seconds. No, it's never easy. I saw some of Caleb Plant's comments on social media. That doesn't help.
"So, we'll plan for late October or early November to be back in the ring. He's [Canelo] always ready. Demetrius [Andrade] is at 160 lbs, and one thing Canelo likes to do is fight champions. If he can't get Plant, he'll want to fight another champion.
"If there's no more in his division, he'll want to go up and fight Bivol," Hearn said of Canelo. "He loves the [Artur] Beterbiev fight as well. That is the most brutal fight.
"I remember sitting down with him [Canelo] once, and to be honest, when I first started the relationship, it was through Eddy Reynoso.
"I'd see Saul and say, 'Yes, sir.' Then I got to know him. When we talk about fights now, I say to him, 'What about light heavyweights? Dmitry Bivol.' 'Yeah, yeah, yeah. The other guy.' I'm like, 'Joe Smith?' He's like, 'No, no, no. The other one.' I'm like, 'Beterbiev.' 'Yeah, yeah, him.'
"He [Canelo] likes to take challenges, and he loves to take great fights. Dmitry Bivol and all these guys at 175 are all tough.
"The thing with Dmitry Bivol is, he's been talking about going to 168 for a while now and can do it. They won't fight at 168, but they might fight at a catchweight.
"Dmitry would be more than happy to do that because he makes 175 so easily. I think when you get to that stage in your career what else is there to do? He consistently fights [the best].
"Look at his run: Danny Jacobs, Callum Smith, and Billy Joe Saunders. That's three champions that he's faced, and particularly the Callum Smith fight was in December.
"So, really, he's got Callum Smith, Yildirim was an easy night and Billy Joe Saunders. Before that, it was the light heavyweight champion Kovalev, and before that the middleweight champion Jacobs," Hearn said.
