Canelo Alvarez ready to face Caelb Plant, unify super-middleweight titles Saturday
.JPG "Said trainer and former light-heavyweight champion Glen Johnson, right: ‘When Raphael came to me, he was very raw, as raw can be,’ Johnson said of former University of Miami football and basketball player Raphael Akpejiori. ‘It’s very gratifying seeing how he has developed. When you have a vision of yourself of what a fighter can accomplish and you see it manifest, it is a beautiful thing.’")
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s 11 months of title consolidation, which included a South Florida fight appearance, has reached the crucial stage.
Considered by many experts as boxing’s best pound-for-pound fighter, Alvarez will face Caleb Plant in a super-middleweight title unification fight Saturday night in Las Vegas (9 p.m., pay-per-view). Alvarez, already recognized as world champion by three of the sport’s four sanctioning bodies, will attempt to become a rare undisputed titleholder.
The native of Mexico’s current reign at the 168-pound class follows previous title runs at super welterweight and middleweight. Alvarez, 31, also won a light-heavyweight belt but immediately vacated it and returned to the super-middleweight class.
“Being the undisputed champion is huge for my legacy,” Alvarez said. “Even harder than getting to the top is staying there. That’s why I try to get better each and every day. That’s what I’ve been trying to do from my first fight up until now.”
Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 KOs) won two super-middleweight belts with a convincing unanimous decision over Callum Smith last December in San Antonio. Two months later, Alvarez retained both titles with a third-round technical knockout over Avni Yildirim at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. Another belt ended on Alvarez’s waist after his eighth-round TKO of former champion Billy Joe Saunders May 8.
With the WBA, WBC and WBO titles now in his possession, Alvarez’s remaining target is the IBF belt that Plant has held since 2019. Although successful in three title defenses, Plant (21-0, 12 KOs) never has encountered the scrutiny linked to fighting the sport’s top pay-per-view attraction.
“The goal is to be an all-time great,” Alvarez said. “I’m so proud of the journey I’ve taken to achieve that. I’m not going to stop until I’ve tried my best to reach that goal.”
When the bout was officially announced in September, Alvarez and Plant had a stare down that led to insults and a brief skirmish before both fighters were separated by their respective camps.
“I hope he has a good chin because he’s going to need it on fight night,” Alvarez said. “With all of the talk, it’s become personal. He crossed a line. But I have to remain focused because this is a very important fight for me.”
The mood was calmer Wednesday as Alvarez and Plant appeared in their final media setting before Saturday’s bout.
“It wasn’t my intention to get under Canelo’s skin at the first press conference,” Plant said. “I think the media makes more of it than we do. We’ve both been in worse scuffles than that. When the bell rings, it’s completely different.”
Plant, of Nashville, reiterated that he relishes the role of huge underdog and being considered Alvarez’s stepping-stone toward boxing history.
“It’s a place that I like to be, I like people rooting against me,” Plant said. “I like being the underdog. It gives me extra motivation. Fighting for the first undisputed super-middleweight championship of the world you don’t need more than that.”
Plant, 29, also isn’t concerned about a close fight going the distance and Alvarez’s popularity helping tilt the scorecards in his favor. Notable narrow decisions that Alvarez won in Las Vegas include his fight against Erislandy Lara and the second of his two matches against previously-unbeaten middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin. The first bout with Golovkin also ended in a disputed draw.
“I believe that the right people are put in place to make sure the right decision is made Saturday night,” Plant said. “Anything other than that is out of my control. So all I can focus on is the game plan and the job that has to be done.”
Local bouts
Former University of Miami tight end and Miami Dolphins practice squad player Raphael Akpejiori will headline a boxing show Saturday night at the Miami Airport Convention Center.
Akpejiori, who has won his first 12 professional fights by knockout, will face Santander Silgado (30-9, 24 KOs) in a scheduled eight-round heavyweight fight. The Akpejiori-Silgado match will headline an announced nine-bout card.
The show also includes undercard bouts featuring South Florida based fighters Courtney Jackson, Jessy Cruz and Ermal Hadribeaj.
The first bout is scheduled to start at 6:30. For information on individual tickets and table reservations, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/night-of-boxing-tickets-164362975083?aff. The Airport Convention Center is located in the Miami Merchandise Mart at 711 NW 72 Ave.