Canelo Alvarez Pays Tribute To Caleb Plant, Says He Was A Difficult Opponent

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez created history by becoming the first Mexican-born fighter to become an undisputed champion when he defeated Caleb Plant in front of 16,586 fans at a sold-out MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas this past Saturday.

Alvarez also recorded his name in the history books by becoming the first undisputed 168-pound champion in history after he defended his WBA, WBO, and WBC titles against Plant, the previously unbeaten IBF Champion.

The undisputed middleweight champion, Alvarez, praised the toughness of his opponent in the ring.

“Caleb is a good fighter. I have a lot of respect for Caleb Plant. He was a difficult opponent with a lot of ability and I do respect him. We are both men at the end of the day,” he said.

“He wanted to fight me and still continue. I told him there’s no shame. We had a great fight tonight.”

Alvarez also expressed his gratitude towards his fans and family as he was cheered by them all night.

“It hasn’t been easy to get to this point, but with your support, my family and my team we’ve gotten really far,” he said. “This is for everybody, especially for Mexico. This is another one for our team. We did it tonight.”

Alvarez, the Mexican icon, went into this fight with a point to prove against “Sweethands” Plant. The fight lived up to its expectation as both had a heated exchange in pre-fight conferences.

The fight started at a high pace with Alvarez coming forward and cutting off the ring beautifully against the taller Plant who wanted to keep the fight at a distance.

Plant kept probing with his jab, striving to push Alvarez away, but the Mexican was too good for him as he landed some hard body shots during the rounds. Eventually, Plant succumbed to Alvarez’s pressure, with the Mexican landing a beautiful left hook at the start of the 11th round.

It was followed by a huge right uppercut that sent Plant to the canvas for the first time in his career.

Plant returned to his feet but couldn’t make it past the round, as Alvarez was on to him in a flash, landing a barrage of power shots that again grounded Plant.

Referee Russell Mora had seen enough and decided to step in to save the American fighter from further punishment, calling off the fight at 1:05 of the 11th.

After the fight, the two fighters seemed to bury the hatchet as both embraced each other and share cordial words with each other.

This victory also saw Alvarez become just the sixth male undisputed champion in the history of boxing.

The future Hall of Famer Canelo, 31, is already a four-division world champion, and this victory is just another feather in his cap.

“There are only six undisputed champions in history. It keeps me happy and very motivated to be one of the six,” he said.