During an interview with Fight Hub TV, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum shares his thoughts on the upcoming undisputed super middleweight title fight between Canelo Alvarez and Caleb Plant before tackling the subject of where Canelo ranks among the all-time Mexican greats. Check out some of what Arum had to say below…
Arum on Canelo-Plant
“I don’t think anybody 160, 168 right now beats Canelo. But Caleb Plant is a decent fighter, he has a lot of skills, and so he’s gonna give Canelo a fight. I think it’ll be an entertaining fight but I must say that in view there’s only one winner, and that’s Canelo. But Plant is a good opponent for Canelo and he’ll give him a fight.”
On where Canelo rank among the greatest Mexican fighters should he win this undisputed title fight
“Certainly one of the great Mexican fighters ever. Whether the greatest, that remains to be seen. But certainly he belongs in the same type of category as the great Chavez — no question about it in my mind.
“Canelo is the best of his generation and he and Chavez fought at different weights but he’s certainly, in my mind, belongs in the same category of greatness as Chavez does.”
On Canelo potentially facing Artur Beterbiev at 175
“Canelo is blessed with a great boxing man as his trainer, Eddy Reynoso, and if Eddy okays that fight, that means that he believes that Canelo has the talent to beat Beterbiev. If Eddy doesn’t okay that fight it means that Canelo is not ready for Beterbiev at 175, a puncher like Beterbiev might be a bridge too far.
“So, again, I don’t know whether he’s thinking about it, I know Canelo sat next to me at the Valdez fight because they’re in the same camp and I think he indicated to me that Beterbiev would be a good possibility. Whether it’s next or in the future, I don’t know. But Beterbiev is fighting the 17th of December in Montreal against Marcus Browne, the #1 contender…Beterbiev would want to make that match, obviously.”
On if he thinks Beterbiev is too much for Canelo
“I don’t know. I just don’t know. Listen, the only guy who knows — and not that they can necessarily predict the outcome — but knows, is Eddy Reynoso. As far as Canelo’s concerned, even he doesn’t know because he’s a fighter and he probably would agree to fight Tyson Fury.”
