Canelo-Caleb Plant Delayed Or Off Altogether?

The behind the scenes negotiating continues for four division world champ Canelo Alvarez and his next. However, it’s looking less likely that whomever he fights will happen before at least January of next year.

First, Alvarez’s advisor/spokesman Eddy Reynoso announced late last week that Canelo is now a free agent to make his own deal with whatever fighter and promotion he would like. And, reports immediately surfaced that his likely choice would be IBF Super Middleweight Champ, Caleb Plant with a target date of either December 12th or the 19th.

However, it looks unlikely now that a Canelo-Plant battle will happen before the end of this year. Mike Coppinger, insider for the Athletic, tweeted this on Tuesday afternoon,

Sources: Canelo Alvarez vs. Caleb Plant appears to be dead, at least for December. Simply not enough time to stage a fight of that magnitude on PPV. Alvarez continues to explore options on one-fight deals

— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) November 10, 2020

Coppinger went on to report that Alvarez and his team have also received inquiry from Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn about the possibility of Canelo fighting WBA 168 lb. champ, Callum Smith, of England.

The unbeaten Smith (along with Hearn) was in discussion with Golden Boy Promotions/DAZN streaming about meeting Alvarez earlier this Fall, but that never materialized. This was in large part due to the dispute between Canelo, his promoter and DAZN about what’s a “premium opponent” for his deal.

Alvarez has not been in the ring since last November, when he captured the WBO Light Heavyweight title by 11th round TKO over Sergey Kovalev. He quickly vacated that title and made clear that he would prefer to fight at Super Middleweight.

The WBC had also “entered the fray” in early October and said they will sanction Alvarez fighting Turkish contender, Avni Yildirim at 168 lb. However, that fight it’s certainly not one to attract much interest outside of Canelo’s hardcore fans.

So, this brings us back to Plant, who is 20-0 with 12 KOs. He was last in action in February with a homecoming title defense win in Nashville, TN, over Vincent Feigenbutz by 10th round stoppage. He’s part of Premier Boxing Champions and it’s likely that a PPV involving Alvarez would be part of Fox Sports.

Fox and PBC already have a December 5th PPV with World Welterweight champ, Errol Spence, defending against Danny Garcia in Arlington, TX. Now, it appears unlikely that they will be able to pull off making a Canelo PPV happen just a couple of weeks later.

Will the proposed Plant fight now be in January? Will it be another opponent, maybe in December with a different outlet?

Questions remain. Answers will be coming soon, too.