Canelo Alvarez vs. Caleb Plant is a Go for Nov. 6

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who tops virtually every list of the top pound-for-pound boxers in the world, will return to the ring on Nov. 6. In the opposite corner will be IBF world super middleweight champion Caleb Plant. The bout will be held in Las Vegas at a venue to be determined.

Alvarez, who holds the other three relevant pieces of the 168-pound title, announced the news on his social media platforms and confirmed it in talks with several reporters. According to his manager/trainer Eddy Reynoso, the 31-year-old Guadalajara redhead will receive the second-highest purse in the history of the sport, a figure topped by only Floyd Mayweather Jr’s haul from his match with Manny Pacquiao.

The Alvarez-Plant negotiations had been sputtering along for some time. In fact, BoxRec, which is almost never wrong about these things, once indicated that Canelo vs. Plant was a done deal for Dec. 19, 2020.

At the time, Alvarez had wrangled out of his contract with Golden Boy Promotions and was aligned with Eddie Hearn through their shared affiliation with DAZN. Hearn swerved Alvarez away from Caleb Plant in favor of his fighter Callum Smith.

Canelo won a lopsided decision over Smith and went on to oppose two other foreigners on American soil, stopping hapless Avni Yildirim in three rounds and dismissing Billy Joe Saunders who lasted eight rounds before retiring with a busted eardrum.

The fights with Yildirim and Saunders were held in NFL stadiums in Miami and Arlington, Texas. Canelo vs. Saunders, which played out at the home of the Dallas Cowboys, shattered the record for the largest crowd at an indoor boxing show in the United States: 73,126.

Caleb Plant has fought only once since being bypassed in favor of Callum Smith. On Jan. 30 of this year, Plant won a 12-round decision over Caleb Truax at the Shrine Expo Center in Los Angeles, winning every round on all three scorecards. The bout, which aired on FOX and went head-to-head with an NBA game between the Lakers and Celtics, drew an unexpectedly strong rating, attracting a peak audience of 2.019 million.

Plant was making the third defense of the IBF title he won from Jose Uzcategui. He had previously defended the belt against Mike Lee (TKO 3) and Vincent Feigenbutz (TKO 10). Lee was in way over his head and Feigenbutz, to no great surprise, was out-classed.

Plant, 29, was raised in Ashland City, Tennessee, which is no city at all, but a small town near Nashville.

He’s undefeated (21-0, 12 KOs) and has a good backstory. Although Alvarez (56-21-2, 38 KOs) will be a huge favorite – he opened in the 10/1 range – Plant is a solid opponent from a marketing standpoint. The fight is a surefire blockbuster.

The T-Mobile Arena, which sits on MGM Grand property, has to be considered the favorite to house the event. Canelo fought on the very first boxing show in this building when he opposed Amir Khan on Cinco de Mayo weekend, 2016. His two fights with Gennadiy Golovkin and his match with Daniel Jacobs were also held here. However, don’t discount Allegiant Stadium, the new home of the (formerly) Oakland Raiders. The Raiders are on the road on the weekend of Nov. 6, opposing the Giants in the New Jersey Meadowlands.

It takes a genuine mega-fight to fill up a ballpark. Canelo Alvarez is a mega-fight all by himself.

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