Alvarez’s brutal destruction of Plant sets up trilogy finale with Golovkin
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez stopped Caleb Plant in the 11th round on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas to become the first undisputed super-middleweight world champion and set up a potential trilogy fight with Gennady Golovkin in May next year.
The Mexican, regarded as the world’s best fighter, found the perfect foil in Plant, who was defending his International Boxing Federation crown, but Alvarez’s power and punch output throughout the fight took him ahead, culminating in a vicious end as he retained his World Boxing Council, World Boxing Organisation and World Boxing Association titles, and claimed his foe’s crown.
It was a left hook in the 11th round that signalled the end. A huge uppercut followed and put Plant on the canvas for the first time in his career. He regained his feet, but was soon under a hail of punches, referee Russell Mora stepping in to signal Plant’s first defeat.
“It hasn’t been easy to get to this point, but with your support, my family and my team we’ve gotten really far,” Alvarez said. The 31-yearold’s record now stands at 57-1-2, – that solitary defeat by Floyd Mayweather eight years ago. Alvarez continues his rise as a fourweight world champion.
It was a moment of history for Alvarez, who, in addition to becoming the first undisputed 12st champion, is only the sixth male undisputed champion in the fourbelt era and the first from his country. “This means so much for the history of Mexico,” he said. “It keeps me happy and very motivated.”
Attention now turns to Alvarez’s next move. Last week the fighter told The Daily Telegraph that he “could not think about other challenges” but wanted “the biggest fights”. That could be a step up to light-heavyweight – where he has already won a belt with victory over Russian Sergey Kovalev – or a third fight with Golovkin, whom many feel Alvarez failed to beat due only to diabolical judging in Las Vegas in September 2017, when their fight was declared draw. Alvarez won a close second fight a year later.
Golovkin will fight Ryota Murata next month, aiming to become a unified middleweight champion once again.
Alvarez, who has beaten seven British fighters in his 16-year career, has said that he “would love to fight in the UK”. That could even become a reality in 2022, against Briton Zach Parker, who stopped Marcus Morrison in four rounds in Birmingham on Saturday. Parker is No 1 challenger for Alvarez’s WBO belt.