Why Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez will prove to be a step too far for Caleb Plant
Anticipation is high for Saturday night’s blockbuster bout between Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Caleb Plant. All hell broke loose at a pre-fight press conference at the Beverly Hilton in California back in September, when Canelo pushed his American counterpart before punches were thrown and Plant was left with a nasty cut on his face.
The pair will put an end to their bad blood in the ring at the iconic MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas this weekend, with the victor set to become the first undisputed super middleweight champion in boxing history as Canelo’s WBA, WBC, WBO and The Ring titles are on the line alongside Plant’s sole IBF super middleweight belt.
Largely considered as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, it is no surprise that the Mexican is the heavy favourite in the Canelo Alvarez vs Caleb Plant odds, with not many fans or pundits giving the American much of a chance against the four-weight world champion either.
While Plant can’t be ruled out until that final bell rings in the MGM, we think Canelo will prove to be too much for ‘Sweethands’ to handle in Sin City. Read on to find why!
Lack of experience against a big fighter
It goes without saying that Alvarez is one of the toughest opponents in the world of boxing right now, with a defeat to Floyd Mayweather back in 2013 the only major blemish on his 56-fight résumé. It takes a brave man to take him on and credit must be given to Plant for agreeing to the this fight at this stage of his career, but he doesn’t have much experience against top-level fighters in the super middleweight division to prove that he can deal with what Canelo is going to throw at him.
His bout with José Uzcátegui back in 2019, when he won his IBF title, was his biggest yet, but the Venezuelan is a far cry from Canelo’s standards and his other 20 opponents have been of a much lower caliber. It’s already a tough task to prepare for a fight against the Mexican, but with not much experience at this level the job is even harder.
He doesn’t possess enough power
A fine jabber and a good defensive boxer, the problem for Plant is that he doesn’t seem to posses enough power to really trouble Canelo and help his chances in the boxing betting tips from Paddy Power. Even if he can keep him at arm’s length in the early rounds like Billy Joe Saunders did last time out without letting him come toe-to-toe and unleash those brutal shots, it will only be a matter of time before Canelo steps in and starts to throw the kind of powerful punches that left Saunders with a broken eye socket and Liam Smith and Amir Khan laid out on the canvas.
With just 12 KOs in his 21 pro fights, any chance of Plant knocking Alvarez out on the night seems farfetched. If they do go into the latter stages of the fight and Canelo gets a feel for Plant’s punching power, he won’t be afraid to take a few shots in order to get that stoppage either. He’s going to need a fantastic gameplan if he is to win, that’s for sure!
