Caleb Plant holds the only belt (the IBF) that Canelo Alvarez doesn’t currently have in his collection at 168 lbs, and Canelo has made very clear that the fight he wants next is Plant for the undisputed super middleweight championship.
Plant (21-0, 12 KO) has also been vocal about wanting the fight, and the usual boxing politics shouldn’t prevent anything from happening. Canelo (56-1-2, 38 KO), after all, is a free agent, both without a signed promoter and with no fights owed to any broadcaster, though he has recently worked with Matchroom Boxing and DAZN. Plant is a Premier Boxing Champions fighter.
Plant recently spoke with Seconds Out and had some noteworthy quotes about the inevitable negotiations.
On his expected purse figures
“I’m not trying to price myself out. Maybe there’s a misconception — I’m not looking to price myself out of a fight that I want and a fight that I know in my heart that I can win. But I also don’t want to get anything less (than I’m worth). When it comes to fighting over here in America, I don’t have the fan base that Canelo does, but I have a bigger fan base over here than Callum (Smith) and Billy (Joe Saunders) do, and I bring a lot more views than Callum and Billy do.”
On the belief he wants $10 million for the fight
“We’re going to sit down here real soon and get things worked out. But, you know, ($10 million) sounds about right, or somewhere in there. I’m not really sure, and I’m not gonna say for sure. I have a great team around me and what I know best is fighting. I don’t know — I’m not completely clueless on the negotiations, but what I do best is fighting. As far as sitting down and negotiating, that’s what I have a team for. That’s why Canelo has a team. We’ll leave that job to them. When it comes to fighting, me and him will do that best.”
On fighting on PBC pay-per-view or DAZN
“I don’t think it’s a secret that fighting on pay-per-view would bring a lot more revenue as opposed to fighting on an app. It would be leaving millions on the table, not just for myself, but much more millions for him. I guess I would just wonder why — again, I’m not negotiating, I have a team for that, but I would just wonder why he would want to leave those millions on the table.”
On fighting Canelo for the undisputed title
“I’d put it near the top (for me). I’ve been doing this for a long time. I’ve sacrificed a lot for this, I’ve worked really hard for this. This has been my dream, to be undisputed and on the pound-for-pound list, leave a legacy in boxing that people can’t erase. I’ve thought this out many times in my head. I know how far I’m willing to go to get my hand raised.”