During this video interview with Fight Hype, IBF super middleweight titleholder Caleb Plant gives his assessment of Canelo’s most recent bout against Avni Yildirim as he looks towards his own potential September date with the Mexican star.
Plant on what he thought about Canelo-Yildirim
“Canelo went in there and he did what he had to do so, you know, you can’t take anything from him. But with Yildirim, you know, you quit on the stool after the third round. It’s not like you not coming out for the 10th round you quit on your stool or something like that. But after the third round to not come out — even in those three rounds you’re not feinting, you’re not jabbing, you’re just shelling up like a heavy bag and just standing right in front of him. And the more he throws punches the more you shell up — you’re not moving your feet, you’re not moving your head. Disappointing, really.
“If you want to be cemented in history forever, you want your name in the history books forever, if you want to be apart of greatness then you gotta go out there and at least go out on your shield. You can’t just shell up and then quit on the stool. So I was a bit disappointed but that’s him I guess.”
On if quitting on the stool is something he would ever do
“No. No, I would not.”
On Canelo saying he fell asleep during his fight against Truax
“We’ll see. He better not fall asleep come September, so I know that.”
On what he thinks differentiates himself from Billy Joe Saunders as an opponent for Canelo
“I just feel like I’m a well rounded fighter and I’m a disciplined fighter as well. I’m a fighter that stays in shape in between fights. As far as training goes and getting up for training, it doesn’t matter what their name is, or what they’ve accomplished, I’ve always given 100% during training, whether its an eight week training camp, whether it’s five, six weeks of pre-camp and even months and months before...I feel like all those things play in my favor. And those are things he has publicly said he hasn’t always done. So it’s not me saying that, it’s him saying that.”
On if he agrees with Floyd Mayweather that a good jab is the key to beating Canelo
“I mean, that’s a key to winning every fight...that may be one factor to a fight but that’s a factor to winning all fights is a jab. If you can’t touch somebody with a jab, you know, can you touch ‘em with a right hand? Can you touch ‘em with a left hook? So I don’t really put too much thought into that. But Floyd has a great point. I’m sure the key to beating him or any great fighter is a jab.”