Saul “Canelo” Álvarez(57-1-2, 39 KOs) had a busy 11 months. He fought four times, which all ended in wins for the Mexican superstar. On Saturday night in Las Vegas, he made history by becoming the first undisputed super middleweight champion when he stopped IBF champion Caleb Plant(21-1, 12 KOs) in front of 16,586 fans at the sold-out MGM Grand Garden Arena.
“It hasn’t been easy to get to this point, but with your support, my family, and my team, we’ve gotten really far,” Álvarez told SHOWTIME’s Jim Gray (through a translator) following the historic victory. “This is for everybody, especially for Mexico. This is another one for our team. We did it tonight.”
After months of an intense buildup to the fight and ten rounds of back-and-forth action in the ring, the battle ended dramatically in the 11th round. Canelo connected flush on a left hook that signaled the beginning of the end for Plant, who fought bravely in his pay-per-view main event debut. Canelo followed up the left hook with a huge right uppercut that sent Plant to the canvas for the first time in his career. Plant returned to his feet but could never recover. Canelo pounced on his injured opponent, unleashing a barrage of power shots that again floored Plant.
This time, referee Russell Mora stepped in to end the action at 1:05 of the 11th.
At the time of the stoppage, the 31-year-old Canelo led on all three scorecards(96-94, 97-93, and 98-92).
Following the bout, Plant was taken to University Medical Center as a precaution.
Alvarez went after Plant’s body. Fifty-three of his 117 landed punches were to the body, and he landed 40 percent of his power shots. Canelo closed the show landing 9 of 14 power shots in the 11th round.
It was a history-making night for boxing’s biggest star. In addition to becoming the first undisputed 168-pound champion in history, he became just the sixth male undisputed champion in the four-belt era and the first undisputed Mexican fighter in history.
What’s next for Canelo? Does he stay at 168 and fight other PBC guys like David Benavidez or Jermall Charlo, or go back to DAZN and get a third fight with Gennady Golovkin. Does he go back up to 175 and face Artur Beterbiev or Dmitry Bivol? Alvarez has options, and it should be interesting where he goes from here. Regarding Plant, outside of Canelo, he can compete with anybody at 168, so he’ll rest up and get back at it.
Watch the stoppage HERE:
All hail the king 👑@Canelo TKO's Caleb Plant in the 11th round 😳#CaneloPlant pic.twitter.com/y5mXvWafr7
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) November 7, 2021
