IBF super middleweight champion Caleb ‘Sweethands’ Plant 20-0 (12) is confident he will get the opportunity to face WBA and WBC champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez 54-1-2 (36) later this year.
Today it was announced that Mexican superstar Alvarez will face his WBC mandatory Avni Yildirim 21-2 (12) at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida on February 27 before likely heading into a unification bout against WBO champion Billy Joe Saunders 30-0 (14) on Cinco de Mayo weekend in May.
The 30-year-old Alvarez is planning to fight again on Mexican Independence Day in September and has made it clear his goal for this year is to unify all four major world titles at 168-pounds.
Plant, 28, has a title defence scheduled against veteran Caleb Truax 31-4-2 (19) at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles on January 30.
“I definitely think the Canelo fight happens this year,” Plant said to Fighthype. “All my focus is being put on January 30th.
“There have been so many fighters throughout history that have been looking ahead and not paying attention, and we know how that goes.
“I’m not here to make that mistake. I know what I have in front of me, and I know how to go in there and handle it. I know I need to focus.
“I definitely see the Canelo fight happening. He’s saying it’s going to happen, and I’m saying it’s going to happen. A lot of people are sweating us about it.
“Everybody just chill out and relax. We’re going to get to it, we’re going to make it happen and it’ll be fireworks.
Few people doubt Alvarez is the cream of the crop in the 168-pound weight class, but Plant insists his name deserves to be in the mix.
“I feel like I’m the best the super middleweight has to offer,” Plant said. “Whether that’s him or anyone else in the division, I feel like I’m at the top of it.
“I feel like I’m not one-dimensional. I have many dimensions, whether we’re talking about him or anyone else in the division.
“I can fight on my front foot or on my back foot. I can pot shot or throw in combinations.
“I can stand in the center of the ring and use my jab or use the whole ring. Whatever the situation calls for, I feel like I have the tools for the job.”
Plant warned that anyone who was rating him solely on his 12-round unanimous decision win over Jose Uzcategui two years ago needs to look deeper into his career.
“Surely, people don’t think I’m the same Caleb Plant that I was in the Jose [Uzcategui] fight. I’ve gotten a lot more experience in the camps that I’ve had and the fights,” Plant said.
“There are no telling how many rounds that I’ve done. Close to 400 or 500 rounds since then of quality sparring.
“It may sound like excuses, but I didn’t sleep well before that fight. There was a lot going on, a lot that went into that fight. When I woke up the next day, I said, ‘Man, I didn’t sleep well last night’ and I could feel it too.
“But I still went in there and handled the job. I dominated and I didn’t get dropped, I know that. I took every shot that he did hit me with. I took it and kept on going.”
