Alvarez, Plant swap punches before Nov. 6 bout
Turns out Canelo Alvarez and Caleb Plant don’t need boxing gloves or a ring to fight.
They came to blows Tuesday in
Los Angeles before the first news conference promoting their Nov. 6 bout at MGM Grand Garden for the undisputed super middleweight championship.
The two faced off in front of the podium and traded barbs and expletives, prompting Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 knockouts) to shove Plant (21-0, 12 KOS). Plant fired a left hand that Alvarez slipped. Alvarez countered with a short left, opening a cut under Plant’s right eye.
“He (swung) first,” Alvarez said outside the Beverly Hilton. “And I do what I do.”
Plant has repeatedly called Alvarez a cheater and referred to a six-month suspension the Mexican fighter was issued by the Nevada State Athletic Commission in 2018 after testing positive for clenbuterol, a banned substance
Alvarez insisted the positive test was a byproduct of contaminated meat he ate. He returned later that year to secure a signature victory over middleweight Gennady Golovkin and has since unified the WBC, WBA and WBO super middleweight titles.
Plant holds the IBF crown and began publicly questioning Alvarez on Sept. 2, two days after ESPN reported WBC junior lightweight champion Oscar Valdez — who works with Alvarez’s trainer, Eddy Reynoso — tested positive for a banned substance before his Sept. 9 fight against Robson Conceicao.
He tagged Alvarez and Reynoso on Twitter, calling them “(expletive) of the year” and “suspect” regarding the positive tests with which they were associated. The comments set the stage for the scene on Tuesday, and more expletives were exchanged along with more accusations.
“(Expletive) you,” Plant, 29, yelled Tuesday at Alvarez after hurling an insult at Reynoso “And you’re a drug cheat.”
“Don’t make excuses before the fight,” Alvarez, 31, said in response.
The winner Nov. 6 will be crowned the first undisputed middleweight champion in boxing’s four-belt era.
The fight will air on Showtime payper-view.