Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez is ready to punish Caleb Plant on Saturday night, claiming the American has made their super-middleweight unification showdown ‘personal’.
The two reigning 168-pound world champions brawled well ahead of their scheduled fight night when they came face to face at a recent press conference. That resulted in a cut under the eye for Plant (21-0).
Their match for all the super-middleweight marbles is still very much on though and it will go ahead at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday (live on BT Sport Box Office).
Alvarez (56-1-2) holds all the titles at 168 bar the IBF strap currently owned by Plant. And unifying the division is no longer his sole focus ahead of the big clash in Sin City.
Tough talk from Canelo
“I hope he has a good chin because he’s going to need it on fight night,” said Alvarez.
“I’m always ready. I just can’t wait. I feel strong and fast. 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.
“Caleb has good boxing skills. He has good movement and a good jab. But it’s nothing new for me. I know what I need to do. I need to be patient in the early rounds and then start doing my job.”
Dedicated to his trade
‘Canelo’ hit the headlines last week for comments he made about the lack of focus shown by lightweight prospect Ryan Garcia. Not something you could ever accuse Alvarez himself of.
He 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.
“I’m 100% focused on this fight. There’s nothing else crossing my mind. After it’s over, we’ll figure out who the next opponent will be.
“Being the undisputed champion is huge for my legacy. Not only would it be an honor to be the first Latin American fighter to do it, but there’s only a select club of fighters who have achieved this. Eddy (Reynoso) and I said in the beginning that the goal was to be undisputed, and now we’re one fight away.
“Everyone knows what I’m going to do in the ring. When something is personal with me, it’s different. I have something special in my mind and I’m going to make it a great night for us.”
“The pandemic made me have to slow down for about a year, so I’m thankful that I’ve been active since then. Things are going fast now, and I love it. I’m thankful to be in this position.”
