Alvarez, Plant finished with pre-fight hype
Face-to-face at MGM is mostly uneventful
WBC, WBA and WBO super-middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez and IBF champion Caleb Plant were reunited Wednesday afternoon inside MGM Grand Garden. For the first time, publicly, anyway since their last promotional news conference in September.
The exchanged unpleasantries that sunny September afternoon in Los Angeles, eventually trading blows before security intervened. And with that in mind, their final news conference Wednesday was…
Well? Normal.
“Not much time left. Really not much left to say. So I’m going to keep it short and sweet,” said Plant, the 29-year-old Las Vegan from the Nashville area.
Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 knockouts) and Plant (21-0, 12 KOS) concluded their promotional responsibilities in a rather tame manner, as to not jeopardize their undisputed super-middleweight title fight Saturday night at MGM Grand Garden — or cause any additional controversy. The fighters maintained their mutual respect for one another and both promised victory in their own way.
They posed for photos with their respective belts and basked in the
pageantry that accompanies the fights of this magnitude. But they did not face off the way they did in Los Angeles, knowing they’ll settle their score Saturday night.
“It’s different when you’re in the
ring.” said Alvarez, the 31-year-old Mexican superstar. “It’s way different.”
Plant, too, downplayed the severity of their September scuffle, noting that it “wasn’t my intention to get under Canelo’s skin” that day.
“You guys make a lot more of it than we do,” Plant said. “I’m sure me and him both have been in worse scuffles than that. I’m sure most people in this room have been in worse scuffles than that. …
“When the bell rings, it’s completely different. I don’t take anything away from anything from the press conference.”
Alvarez and Plant will cross paths again Friday during weigh-ins at MGM Grand Garden. Those will be open to the public for the first time since boxing returned to Las Vegas amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Then it’s time for the fight, after which the first undisputed 168-pound champion will be crowned.
Both fighters acknowledged the historical implications of a victory and both believe they have the requisite strategy to achieve such a feat.
Alvarez is the current pound-forpound king and as complete a fighter as there is in boxing today. Plant is a sharp and heady defensive specialist who employs the kind of style that has troubled Alvarez in the past.
“I don’t focus on the opponent. I focus on what my fighter is going to be able to do,” said Alvarez’s trainer and manager, Eddy Reynoso. “We had an amazing training camp, great preparation, and we’re going to be ready to roll Saturday night.”