Canelo Alvarez

Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KOs) became the first undisputed super middleweight champion in the division's history Saturday night, defeating Caleb Plant (21-1, 12 KOs) by 11th-round technical knockout in front of a sellout crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Plant took a ton of punishment in the fight, with Alvarez walking him down constantly and loading up on his power punches. The accumulated damage finally saw Plant crumble late. Alvarez scored a knockdown with a right uppercut midway through the 11th, and after a brief recovery from Plant, finished the bout for good with a vicious barrage of punches along the ropes.

Alvarez claimed Plant's IBF world title with the win, adding it to the WBC, WBO and WBA belts he held coming into the fight. He's won world titles in multiple divisions, but this is the first time he's owned all four belts in a single weight class.

Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao complemented Alvarez on his historic win after the fight.

Plant, 29, was always going to have to rely on his footwork and hand speed to be effective, while Alvarez made it his mission to use his pressure and power to establish control.

Alvarez, 31, did well to cut off the ring early on and trapped Plant on the ropes, neutralizing the underdog's length and making it difficult for him to establish a strong jab. At close range, Alvarez was clearly the more effective fighter.

Plant wasn't overpowered, though. He did well to get out of the tough spots, and his speed served him well when he was able to keep the fight in the center of the ring. Alvarez nailed him with some great power shots in the fourth round, but Plant absorbed them well.

Halfway through the fifth, Plant landed perhaps his best combo of the night, briefly forcing Alvarez to back off from the center of the ring. Alvarez was quick to regroup after taking those shots. He was confident that his chin, which survived the likes of Sergey Kovalev and Gennadiy Golovkin, could handle whatever Plant threw his way.

Alvarez cruised through the seventh and eighth rounds, loading up on his lead left hand and battering Plant's torso. Plant had some slick defensive maneuvers and absorbed the blows well, but his punches had far less bite to them. His speed remained a potent weapon, and he was able to tag Alvarez a few times when the latter's technique got sloppy.

Eventually, Alvarez's strength and determination won out. The body punches sapped Plant's energy, and his shrewd defensive tactics swiftly disappeared. That gave Alvarez an opening to end the fight in spectacular fashion, once again confirming he's worthy of being called the No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer in the sport today.

With the division unified, Alvarez is in position to do whatever he wants for his next act. He's won titles in four weight classes, and he will have his pick of opponents when he wants to return to the ring. That future challenger will have his work cut out for him because the form Alvarez is in makes it difficult to imagine him losing anytime soon.

Boxing superstar Canelo Alvarez said he's not interested in a potential cross-sport clash with UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.

Alvarez, who's set to face Caleb Plant for the undisputed super middleweight crown on Saturday night, told TMZ Sports he doesn't think a matchup with Usman would help his legacy.

"I don't see. It doesn't make sense for me. I want to make history in boxing, and I don't see anything right there," Alvarez said.

Usman first suggested he'd take on a boxing match against the top pound-for-pound boxer in the world during an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast in January 2020, and he doubled down on those comments Wednesday ahead of UFC 268.

Like Alvarez, the UFC grappler has a title fight Saturday night as he defends the welterweight belt against Colby Covington. He'd be willing to take time away from the Octagon for a marquee meeting with the 31-year-old Mexican sensation, though.

"I think that's something that [would be] the biggest ever in history," Usman told reporters. "That's what I'm looking to do. That's something that scares me. That's something that gets me up in the morning. That's something that I might risk leaving my daughter for another 12 weeks for."

It doesn't sound like Canelo is interested, at least at this stage of their respective careers, as he looks to continue building on his 56-1-2 career record.

Alvarez's only loss came in 2013 against Floyd Mayweather Jr., the undefeated boxer who laid the groundwork for cross-sport fights when he took on UFC's Conor McGregor in 2017.

That bout failed to live up to the hype, though. Mayweather, one of the best defensive boxers in history, never seemed remotely in danger as he kept McGregor at a safe distance throughout before scoring a knockout win in the 10th round.

Usman has a strong case as the best all-around fighter in the UFC, but he'd face a similar uphill battle if he stepped in the ring opposite Alvarez. Even though they both participate in combat sports, the approach and style is markedly different.

It's too early to say Alvarez vs. Usman will never happen. Money always talks, and that alone could make it something the camps revisit down the line.

For now, however, Canelo seems content facing off with full-time boxers.

Boxing superstar Saul "Canelo" Alvarez will look to become an undisputed champion for the first time when he takes on the undefeated Caleb Plant in a highly anticipated super middleweight clash on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Alvarez, 31, is the top pound-for-pound boxer in the world and holds the WBO, WBA and WBC super middleweight titles. He hasn't lost in eight years and has dominated opponents across four divisions in that time. He's yet to hold all four major belts in a single division, but he'll get a chance to do just that when he takes on Plant, the IBF super middleweight champion, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. 

While there's plenty on the line in terms of legacy, this fight is also going to be a personal one. Alvarez and Plant got into a physical exchange at a press conference for this fight back in September, with the latter suffering a cut under his eye.

The surprise outburst from the typically stoic Alvarez helped set the stage for one of the biggest fights of 2021. Here's how to watch.

Alvarez vs. Plant Fight Info

When: Saturday, Nov. 6 at 9 p.m. ET (main card)

Where: Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas

Live stream: Showtime PPV ($79.99)

Odds: Alvarez -1000 (wager $1,000 to win $100), Plant (wager $100 to win $600)

Odds via DraftKings

Plant, 29, is a heavy underdog in what is far and away the toughest challenge of his career. This isn't because he's an unworthy challenger; instead, the lopsided odds have more to do with how dominant Alvarez has been in his prime years.

The Mexican superstar hasn't been in danger of losing a fight since his epic duels with Gennadiy Golovkin in 2017 and 2018. He's bounced around weight classes over the past few years, defeating the likes of Daniel Jacobs, Sergey Kovalev and, most recently, Billy Joe Saunders.

With a seemingly indestructible chin at his disposal, Alvarez has become a confident, hellacious pressure fighter. He walks down his opponents and batters them with combinations to the head and body. He has excellent timing and counters well. On the defensive end, he displays excellent head movement and footwork. And when he does take a hard punch, Alvarez is often in position to roll with the shot so it does less damage. 

Alvarez has already accomplished so much in his career, but those looking for him to finally topple off his pedestal may have to wait. He's determined to become an undisputed champion in what will be his 60th career fight.

"That's the goal, to be an all-time great," Alvarez said, per SkySports.com. "I'm so proud of trying to achieve that.

"I'm never going to stop until I try my best to be one of the all-time greats."

Plant's accomplishments pale in comparison to Alvarez, but he can start to change that on Saturday. The Tennessee native is a skilled boxer in his own right, with some key physical advantages. He's several inches taller (6'1" to 5'8"), has a longer reach (74" to 70.5") and has much less wear and tear as a professional (122 rounds to 425).

He also has incredibly fast hands for his size and a great sense of the ring, traits that served him well in his dominant win over Caleb Truax in January, a fight that saw Plant win every round on all three judges' scorecards.

It's those skills and confidence that have Plant believing he can deliver a major upset on Saturday.

"There’s only one thing that’s better than proving people right and that’s proving people wrong," Plant said, per SportingNews.com's Andreas Hale. "But I’m not just here to prove the critics wrong. I’m here to prove myself right, and that’s something that I’ve been doing my entire life."

While he's undeniably talented, Plant's fatal flaw may be his relative lack of power. He's only stopped 12 of the 21 fighters he's faced in his career. Alvarez has absorbed big swings from the likes of Kovalev and Golovkin, so there's little reason to believe that Plant is going to stun him. He'll have to rely on his speed and evasiveness, but that's going to be difficult to do for 12 rounds.

Plant has a good shot at jumping out to an early lead on the cards if he boxes smartly, but Alvarez should be able to eventually get to the body, slow Plant down and win over the judges.

Prediction: Alvarez wins by unanimous decision

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MMA superstar Kamaru Usman has a high-profile fighter on his wish list, and it might not be who you'd expect.

Usman wants a bout with boxing superstar Canelo Alvarez.

"I think that's something that [would be] the biggest ever in history," Usman told ESPN's Marc Raimondi. "That's what I'm looking to do. That's something that scares me. That's something that gets me up in the morning. That's something that I might risk leaving my daughter for another 12 weeks for."

Both fighters have some major business to attend to before any such matchup can even be considered, of course. Usman, 34, will be facing Colby Covington at UFC 268 on Saturday with the welterweight title on the line, while the 31-year-old Alvarez is facing Caleb Plant that same night with all four major super middleweight belts on the line.

"We'll see who does better," Usman said. "We're both in the business of entertainment nowadays. He's gonna entertain on the same night. So will we. We'll see who does better numbers and then we're gonna sit there and we'll have a discussion with the pound-for-pound best promoter in the game Dana White and we'll try to make something happen."

While the MMA fighter vs. boxer fight has become a popular trend in recent years, two fighters in the prime of their careers have never been contested. The closest was Conor McGregor facing Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2017, though it was the final fight in Mayweather's professional career (and McGregor has gone just 1-3 in the UFC since).

More often, such bouts have been like the novelty fights staged by Jake Paul.

So a fight between Usman and Alvarez, both at the pinnacle of their respective sports, would be something to see. Usman, 19-1, has won 18 straight MMA fights. Alvarez, 56-1-2, had his lone loss against Mayweather in 2013, when Mayweather was firmly in his prime.

"He's a master of his craft," Usman said of Alvarez. "He's used to these boxers. He's used to the boxing speed and the boxing movements and things like that. We're different. Sometimes different can be good. What's wrong with giving him a different look? Of course, it's a tall tree to climb, but we saw what happened the last time I was the underdog."

He'd be the underdog again, facing Alvarez in a boxing match. There would be no shortage of interest in seeing if he could overcome those odds, however.

Pound-for-pound No. 1 boxer Canelo Alvarez knows his opinion carries a lot of weight, so he didn't hold back in his criticism of rising boxing star Ryan Garcia.

"Look, Ryan has a lot of talent. But to me in my eyes, he’s wasting a lot of time and wasting his talent," Alvarez recently told Complex. "I look at him and don’t see him 100 percent dedicated and, to us, that’s a bad signal."

Garcia pulled out of his scheduled fight against Joseph Diaz on Nov. 27 due to wrist surgery.

Garcia hasn't fought since Jan. 2 when he defeated Luke Campbell by seventh-round TKO to become the interim WBC lightweight champion. He was scheduled to defend his title against Javier Fortuna in April but withdrew to "manage his health and well being" and was subsequently stripped of his belt.

As Garcia's teammate, Alvarez said he's tried to convince him to be more dedicated to the sport. The unified super middleweight champion is not satisfied with Garcia fighting so infrequently.

"We always remind him as a team to come to the gym, to train, and to learn because you need to be in the gym," Alvarez said. "You’re learning day-by-day, at the very minimum fighting five times a year.

"When I was beginning my career, I did 15 fights in one year," he continued. "That’s where I was at the beginning of my career. So definitely he needs to be a little more dedicated."

Besides Garcia's time away from the ring, Alvarez might also have been referring to Garcia's fame as a social media sensation with 8.8 million followers on Instagram.

At 21-0, Garcia is one of the brightest young stars in the entire sport of boxing. But he's only fought once in each of the past two years and twice in 2019. He's now eyeing a return in 2022 after his recovery from wrist surgery.

UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman's manager has issued a challenge to Saul "Canelo" Alvarez. 

Ali Abdelaziz told TMZ Sports he wants to set up a superfight to determine who the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world is: "Let's get the pound-for-pound king in boxing vs. the pound-for-pound king in MMA. We're not into this fake fight, gimme fight."

"We saw Conor McGregor, a guy who can't even beat guys in the UFC, he went 10 rounds with Floyd Mayweather," Abdelaziz added. "You have to tell me Kamaru cannot go 12 rounds with Canelo and beat him? This is not a money grab, it's a fight."

Superfights have become all the rage in boxing in recent years. 

Abdelaziz cited the Conor McGregor-Floyd Mayweather Jr. bout from 2017 that was the second-most lucrative boxing match in history, behind Mayweather's matchup with Manny Pacquiao. 

In addition to McGregor, several mixed martial artists have dabbled in boxing exhibitions recently. Jake Paul has fought Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley already this year. 

Even though there is no indication Usman or Alvarez are angling to fight each other at this point, anything can happen if there is enough money at stake for both competitors. 

Usman is certainly one of the most dominant mixed martial artists in the world right now. The  Nigerian Nightmare has a 19-1 career record, including 18 consecutive wins. He has won three of his five welterweight title defenses by knockout or TKO. 

Alvarez is currently scheduled to defend the WBA, WBC, WBO, and The Ring super middleweight titles against Caleb Plant, who is putting the IBF super middleweight title on the line, on Nov. 6. 

Canelo is 56-1-2 in his storied boxing career. He has won 14 of his past 15 fights since losing to Mayweather in September 2013. The one non-victory during that span was a draw against Gennady Golovkin.   

Tuesday's press conference between Canelo Alvarez and Caleb Plant ended in a fight that may put their November bout in jeopardy.

An Alvarez punch landed squarely in Plant's eye, causing a major gash that Mike Coppinger of ESPN said "usually postpones fights" if suffered in training. Alvarez and Plant are slated for one of the year's biggest fights Nov. 6 in Las Vegas. 

Despite fears of a possible postponement, Plant told TMZ that the injury was "a scratch" and wouldn't delay the bout.

Alvarez shoved Plant hard after a war of words, leading to Plant throwing a wild missed punch that Canelo countered with a square shot to his eye. 

Plant already is set to enter the bout as a heavy underdog against Alvarez, who is widely seen as the world's best pound-for-pound fighter. The 21-0 IBF super middleweight champion opened as a +550 underdog but has gone on the offensive in the war of words leading up to the bout.

“I like my chances in any fight,” Plant told Lance Pugmire of The Athletic. “If I didn’t believe I can win, y’all wouldn’t have these cameras in my face right now. You guys have made plenty of fight predictions before, but you guys have been wrong. You know how many times I’ve been wrong? None."

Alvarez has only one career loss, against Floyd Mayweather in 2013, but used that fight as a platform to become one of the world's biggest boxing draws. 

The winner of the bout will become the first undisputed champion at 168 pounds since the sport expanded to four belts per weight class.