Before they fight inside the ring, Canelo Alvarez and Caleb Plant spiced things up outside of it.
Alvarez and Plant exchanged blows during a news conference in California in front of media and friends. Alvarez would push Plant after the latter called him a cheater and a "motherf***ker." Plant would try and respond back with an open left, but Canelo dodged it and hit one of his own. Pulled back by security, Plant ended up getting a cut below his eye.
Heated face off here before the #CaneloPlant press conference ----
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) September 21, 2021
Streaming live: https://t.co/mIPZRjJbFo pic.twitter.com/7WXH6hAQu6
Plant, the IBF Super-Middleweight Champion, has called out Team Canelo a few times over the past few months. He was upset over Oscar Valdez being allowed to fight recently after testing positive for a banned substance. Valdez trains with Eddy Reynoso, Canelo's longtime trainer.
Turning professional in 2014, Plant won the IBF Super-Middleweight Title against Jose Uzcategui in 2019. He has defended it three times, last beating Caleb Truax in January. Plant has been asking for a fight like this for a while, mainly competing against mandatories.
“I know that people don’t believe me when I tell them I’m winning on November 6," Plant said at the press conference. "All those people who tell me that I can’t do something, you live believable lives and you do believable things. I promised myself that I was going to run this all the way to the top, with no problem crashing and burning along the way. I set out to live an unbelievable life and accomplish unbelievable things. Those people who doubt me are the very reason that I’m here."
Canelo, the WBA (Super), WBC, WBO, and The Ring Super-Middleweight Champion, took exception to Plant calling him out. He also thought Plant was legitimately talking about his mother, which set him off.
Don’t talk about my mom. pic.twitter.com/f1HQlEfUUE
— Canelo Alvarez (@Canelo) September 21, 2021
Making his boxing debut in 2005, Canelo has won titles in four different weight classes. After having his undefeated streak snapped by Floyd Mayweather, Canelo has gone 14-0-1 in fifteen fights. His last bout was against Billy Joe Saunders, beating him via retirement for the WBO Super-Middleweight Title.
Canelo did not think anything of Plant, who he believes is a liar.
“You are not on my level and you will see on November 6," Canelo stated. "You don’t want to fight now, I promise you. We come from nothing and we worked hard to be here. For somebody to lie and talk trash about us, that upset Eddy. It is what it is though. We just have to show everyone who we are on November 6.
“Caleb might be on the same level as Billy Joe Saunders and Callum Smith, but he’s not on my level. I respect that he isn’t here to back down. You can see from today that this is definitely going to be a good fight."
If everything goes according to plan, the fight will take place inside the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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