Caleb Plant is just a few weeks away from his huge clash with Canelo Alvarez, where the winner will walk out as the undisputed super middleweight champion — the first in the division’s history.
The promotion got off to a blistering start a few weeks ago, when the two threw hands at their official announcement press conference. Plant wound up with a cut — a scratch, really — under his eye.
Plant (21-0, 12 KO) was emotional in the moment, but says he’s now locked in and focused on his training, not dwelling on the dust-up.
“I don’t think I need to be any more motivated than I already am to fight for the undisputed super middleweight championship of the world. It’s a fight that we both obviously want to win. Maybe Canelo’s emotions boiled over at the press conference and I reacted. Those things happen.”
But while Plant is willing to downplay it, trainer Justin Gamber admits it’s given him extra motivation.
“I was surprised by what happened at the press conference,” he added. “If anything, it made it more personal. It’s always been important to beat him, but now there’s a little bit of an extra chip on my shoulder.”
Plant, 29, is the major underdog against Canelo (56-1-2, 38 KO), but is staying truly confident about his chances at shocking the world.
“I believe that there are a handful of things that I am better than Canelo at in the ring,” he said. “But the only way to find out is to tune-in on November 6. It’s not going to matter what I say right now, people aren’t going to believe me anyway. I’d rather show you than tell you.
“I’ve only had 21 fights as a professional, but a lot of those fights have been on the big stage. I’ve been fighting at a high-level for a long time and I’ve got a lot of experience under my belt. It’s all going to help me on fight night.
“I know that this is the biggest fight I’ve had so far in my career, and that’s the goal, to keep moving forward. I want each fight to be bigger than the last fight. This isn’t anything that I haven’t asked for. I want this and I feel like I’m prepared for it.”
Gamber has full respect for Canelo, but believes Plant is ready to beat him, feeling they’ve got the beat on Alvarez’s weaknesses.
“Caleb will be 110 percent ready on November 6. Trust me when I say that there’s not a fighter on the face of the earth who doesn’t have weaknesses,” he said. “Canelo is where he is because he’s earned his spot. He’s a great fighter, but he’s not a perfect fighter. He has weaknesses and we’re going to exploit them.
“I know that people are overlooking Caleb. That’s perfect for us. Caleb is just like me, because for our whole lives, when someone told us that we couldn’t do something, we love to prove them wrong. It just drives us even more.”
For Plant, obviously, it’s the biggest fight of his career. It might always be, but a win will give him the chance to have even bigger ones. But for pure legacy, it may never get bigger.
“Being undisputed will cement my name in the history books of boxing forever,” he said. “That’s why I do this. That’s what I set out to accomplish when I first started boxing.”
