Boxing fans are getting ready for a major showdown this weekend, as Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Caleb Plant prepare to do battle for the first undisputed super-middleweight title in the history of the sport.
Plant, who holds the IBF super-middleweight title, comes into the bout the underdog with William Hill giving the Tennessee-born champion odds of 8/1, whilst WBA, WBO and WBC defender
Alvarez was given odds of 1/10 to emerge victorious. Alvarez is widely regarded as the greatest active pound-for-pound boxer, having secured victories against notable contenders such as Billy Joe Saunders, Gennedy Golovkin and Callum Smith with only one loss against P4P great Floyd Mayweather Jr – but could Plant upset his rival and the bookies?
Discussing the much-hyped and highly anticipated clash on William Hill’s The Final Round boxing show on YouTube, David Alorka observed that there has been plenty of ‘spice’ in the build up to the fight- in the form of heated exchanges of words between the two puglists – but quizzes his co-host Gareth A Davies on whether there is ‘more than spice’ to the fight.
“There could be a lot of spice on the night and in the build-up this week – we had a bit of a slapping episode when they stood off each other a couple of weeks back,” Davies explained.
“Caleb Plant means business, he holds the IBF crown, he’s undefeated in 21 fights, he’s heavy handed and is a big super-middleweight – he’s better than Canelo, but Canelo has that thickness around the neck and a great chin of course.
“What we need to see from Caleb Plant is to be aggressive and get stuck into Canelo. It’s a seven or eight round fight for me. Caleb Plant will let his hands go, but I really think Canelo will win a stoppage here.”
However, Davies observed that should he claim the undisputed super-middleweight throne, Canelo will likely be expected to step up his game and move up to the light-heavyweight division, where he has already competed in the past – but there is now a new breed of fighters emerging through the weight class’s ranks.
