Promoter Eddie Hearn has revealed details of the failed negotiations to match WBC, WBA and WBO super middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez 56-1-2 (38) with IBF counterpart Caleb ‘Sweethands’ Plant 21-0 (12) on September 18.
When time ran out to make the rare four-belt unification bout, it looked like undefeated Russian WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol 18-0 (11) would step in to fill the void.
But Alvarez’s trainer and manager opted to push the date back and recommence negotiations with Plant.
“Let’s just delay this to late October, early November,” Matchroom Boxing boss Hearn said on the DAZN Boxing YouTube channel.
“They do want to fight Caleb Plant. That is what they want at the end of the day.
“Dmitry Bivol is there, he accepted the fight, he’s ready to fight, but the ultimate goal for Canelo is to be undisputed at 168-pounds.
“So they’ll reignite that and see what [Plant’s promoter] Al Haymon says for seconds. No, it’s never easy. I saw some of Caleb Plant’s comments on social media. That doesn’t help.
“So, we’ll plan for late October or early November to be back in the ring. [Canelo] is always ready. Demetrius [Andrade] is at 160-pounds and one thing Canelo likes to do is fight champions. If he can’t get Plant, he’ll want to fight another champion.”
If the Plant fight cannot be made, Hearn fully expects Alvarez to move up to light heavyweight where Russian knockout artist Artur Beterbiev 16-0 (16) owns the WBC and IBF titles while rugged Long Islander Joe Smith Jr 27-3 (21) holds the WBO strap.
“If there’s no more in his division, he’ll want to go up and fight Bivol. He loves the Beterbiev fight as well. That is the most brutal fight,” Hearn said.
“I remember sitting down with [Canelo] once and to be honest, when I first started the relationship it was through Eddy Reynoso.
“I’d see Saul and say, ‘Yes, sir.’ Then I got to know him. When we talk about fights now, I say to him, ‘What about light heavyweights? Dmitry Bivol.’ ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah. The other guy.’ I’m like, ‘Joe Smith?’ He’s like, ‘No, no, no. The other one.’ I’m like, ‘Beterbiev.’ ‘Yeah, yeah, him.’
“He likes to take challenges and he loves to take great fights. Dmitry Bivol and all these guys at 175 are all tough.
“The thing with Dmitry Bivol is he’s been talking about going to 168 for a while now and can do it. They won’t fight at 168 but they might fight at a catchweight.
“Dmitry would be more than happy to do that because he makes 175 so easily. I think when you get to that stage in your career what else is there to do? He consistently fights [the best].
“Look at his run: Danny Jacobs, Callum Smith and Billy Joe Saunders. That’s three champions that he’s faced and particularly the Callum Smith fight was in December.
“So really, he’s got Callum Smith, [Avni] Yildirim was an easy night and Billy Joe Saunders. Before that, it was the light heavyweight champion [Sergey] Kovalev and before that the middleweight champion Jacobs.”
