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After defeating Billy Joe Saunders by TKO on Saturday night in Arlington, Texas, Canelo Alvarez now holds three of the four recognized world championships in the super middleweight division. That would seem to leave only one option for Alvarez’s next fight: a unification bout with IBF champion Caleb Plant.
Following his victory, Canelo was asked if Plant was indeed the next man up.
“That’s the plan,” Alvarez said in the ring. “That’s the plan, to go for the belt. I’m coming, man. I’m coming for the belt. I hope that fight is made easy and we give the fans that fight.”
That mirrors what Alvarez told CBS Sports before the fight.
“My personal goal is to unify the titles at 168 pounds,” Alvarez said. “Caleb Plant is the other champion and hopefully we can make that fight happen. We don’t know the [next] goal right now. We don’t know what’s going to happen then. I want to make history and that’s what we’re doing right now.”
Plant is undefeated at 21-0 and has been something of a breakout star over the past few years, drawing solid television ratings while looking impressive, if not necessarily facing top tier competition. During the pay-per-view broadcast of Andy Ruiz’s win over Chris Arreola, Plant stated he was hopeful the fight with Alvarez would come in the fall.
“The plan is for September,” Plant said. “So, you know, hopefully we can get everything worked out, and give the fans the first undisputed super-middleweight champion of all time, and you know, everybody will be able to see those belts around me.”
Demetrius Andrade was in attendance wearing a shirt that read “Canelo and Billy Joe are scared to fight Boo Boo.” Alvarez blew off the idea of facing Andrade during a media call during this past fight week.
“The truth is he hasn’t fought with anyone, hasn’t fought against anyone, and he’s also boring, very boring,” Alvarez said. “Maybe he’s a good fighter, but he’s a boring fighter, and at the end of the day, when there’s a boring fight, people are going to blame me. I like fights where there’s action, where people can enjoy a good show. That’s very important for me. But also he doesn’t represent a challenge for me, as well, because he hasn’t fought against anybody.”
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One fighter Alvarez has expressed some interest in fighting is WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo, telling FightHub in February that Charlo or Plant was the fight that needed to happen next, “”Hopefully yes, why not? A fight has to happen with one of those two [Charlo and Plant]. We don’t know. The only thing I can tell you is my goal to win the 168 pounds belts and then let’s see what comes.”
Finally, a return to the light heavyweight division could be in Alvarez’s future, though not likely in his next fight. After jumping to the division and winning the WBO title with a stunning knockout of Sergey Kovalev, Alvarez seemed to put light heavyweight behind him. However, in recent months, there have been some suggestions that a fight with WBC and IBF light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev could happen down the road.
In March, Beterbiev expressed interest in the fight, saying, “Canelo is a cool boxer, I like him. It will not be an obstacle to enter the ring with him if there is an offer. I would gladly fight.”