Historic Canelo-Plant undisputed title fight also includes heavy dose of bad blood

Plus notes: Haney-Diaz a done deal; Davis gets new opponent; Mayer, Hamadouche ready to unify; Quick hits; Show and tell

Nov 04, 2021

LAS VEGAS — If Canelo Alvarez and Caleb Plant are to be believed there is genuine bad blood between the two as they head into their historic showdown.

They will met for Alvarez’s Ring super middleweight championship and to unify the four major sanctioning body belts in the first-ever undisputed 168-pound title fight on Saturday (Showtime PPV, 9 p.m. ET, $79.99) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The rancor each has toward the other has taken shape over a variety of issues. Among them:

Plant calling Alvarez out for his positive drug test for the banned substance clenbuterol in 2018 to led to a six-month suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission and a postponement of his middleweight championship rematch with Gennadiy Golovkin.

The possibility of something being lost in translation from Plant’s native English to Alvarez’s native Spanish — even though Alvarez understands and speaks English very well now — when Plant called Alvarez a “motherfu----” and he supposedly took it literally while they were trash talking during the staredown that opened their Sept. 21 kickoff news conference in Beverly Hills , California.

There was shoving, punches thrown by both men and plenty of cursing. Plant wound up with blood running down his face from a cut under his right eye that everyone was lucky wasn’t bad enough to put the fight in jeopardy.

Heavy underdog Plant (21-0, 12 KOs), 29, an Ashland City, Tennessee, native fighting out of Las Vegas, has emphatically said he has no love for Alvarez and that incident did nothing but deepen his disdain.

Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 KOs), 31, of Mexico, the pound-for-pound king and four-division champion, has rarely gotten personal with opponents or trash talked, so the lead up to this fight is a different situation than he is used to.

I wrote about the bad blood they profess toward each other for RingTV, the Ring magazine website. Please read that story here: https://www.ringtv.com/629685-canelo-alvarez-and-caleb-plant-are-ready-to-put-all-their-belts-on-the-line-in-a-grudge-match/

Haney-Diaz all set

Devin Haney will defend his WBC lightweight world title against interim titlist Joseph Diaz Jr. on Dec. 4 in a DAZN main event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Matchroom Boxing announced on Wednesday.

The fight has been expected for the past few weeks and now it finalized. It came about when Ryan Garcia had to have recent surgery on his injured hand and pulled out of a fall fight with Diaz. Haney and Diaz went back and forth with each on social media and eventually their teams made the fight.

Haney (26-0, 15 KOs), 22, of Las Vegas, will be making his fourth defense and is coming off a unanimous decision win over former titlist Jorge Linares on May 29.

“I was born to be great, so these are the moments I get up for,” Haney said. “I learned a lot from my last fight it made me a more dangerous fighter. You guys can expect a ton of excitement and explosion in this fight.”

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Former junior lightweight titlist Diaz (32-1-1, 15 KOs), 28, a southpaw from Downey, California, is coming off a unanimous decision over perennial contender Javier Fortuna to claim the vacant interim belt on July 9.

“I’m always daring to be great. That’s what I want to be known for during my career: taking on the toughest challenges,” Diaz said. “I know I will rise to the occasion and showcase to the world the kind of fighter I am on Dec. 4. I am going to give Haney the ass whooping he deserves.”

Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn, Haney’s promoter, and Golden Boy’s Oscar De La Hoya, Diaz’s promoter, worked together to make the fight.

“This is going to be a thrilling fight in what is the most exciting weight class in the sport right now,” Hearn said. “Devin has been crying out for big fights and on the back of a real test in Linares, he faces another massive fight in the form of the feisty Diaz Jr.”

Said De La Hoya: “Joseph 'JoJo' Diaz Jr. is a world class fighter who I know will dominate the action. He is aggressive, he is smart, and knows when to overwhelm or outbox his opponent. His fighting style is at another level and when he faces Haney, fans will see how quickly JoJo will outclass him in the ring. I have full confidence in JoJo, and I am looking forward to calling him a two-division world champion.”

Cruz steps in to face Davis

As expected, lightweight contender Isaac Cruz has stepped in and will challenge Gervonta “Tank” Davis for his secondary lightweight belt on Dec. 5 (Showtime PPV) at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Organizers made the announcement on Wednesday, a few days after Rolando “Rolly” Romero, Davis’ initial challenger, was dropped from the fight amid a sexual assault allegation against him that Henderson, Nevada, police are investigating.

“Isaac Cruz was ready for this big opportunity and I expect him to come ready to deliver the fight of his life,” Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe said. “However, Gervonta Davis is a generational talent who’s only getting better. This fight is going to end in spectacular fashion.”

Davis (25-0, 24 KOs), 26, of southpaw from Baltimore, said his plan to score a knockout has not changed even if the opponent has.

“I respect Isaac Cruz for stepping up and taking the fight, but everyone knows what I do,” Davis said. “I come in looking for the knockout and that’s exactly what I’m going to do in this fight. I’m back in Los Angeles where the stars shine and I’m going to light it up against Isaac Cruz.”

Cruz (22-1-1, 15 KOs) 23, of Mexico, has not lost since dropping an eight-rounder in 2016. He has looked particularly good in his last three bouts as he has stepped up his competition level. He knocked out former world title challenger Diego Magdaleno in the first round in brutal fashion last Oct. 31, won a unanimous decision over then-undefeated Matias Romero in March and won a lopsided unanimous decision over former junior lightweight titlist Francisco Vargas on June 19.

“First, I want to thank Gervonta Davis and his team for this opportunity — an opportunity I won’t let get past me,” Cruz said. “God willing I’ll be world champion on Dec. 5. This fight is a very big motivation for me as a professional and as a personal goal. I’m sure after Dec. 5 everyone in boxing will know the name Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz.”

Mayer, Hamadouche final words

WBO women’s junior lightweight titlist Mikaela Mayer and IBF counterpart Maiva Hamadouche met to face-to-face on Wednesday at a news conference to have their final say before they meet to unify their belts in the main event of a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN+ card on Friday (11 p.m. ET) at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.

The fight will be the first female world title bout to headline a Top Rank on ESPN card since the series debuted in July 2017.

“My mindset is that I’m here to challenge myself to the best of my ability in this fight and for the rest of my career,” Mayer said. “She has been a champion for six years, but in all that time she didn’t even push for a world title unification bout. I had to go out there and be very vocal and push hard to make this fight happen.

“This is the biggest fight of my career. This is my chance to show that I’m the best fighter in my division. Winning this fight and performing very well will put me as the top player in the division. One fight at a time, but since I became a world champion, we are looking at big fights only.”

Mayer (15-0, 5 KOs), 30, a 2016 U.S. Olympian from of Los Angeles, will be making her second title defense since winning the vacant belt last October.

Hamadouche (22-1, 18 KOs), 31, of France , will be making her seventh defense.

“This is an exciting opportunity for me. I have defended the title on multiple occasions and now this is a great opportunity to unify world titles,” Hamadouche said. “I believe my experience will be the difference. I’m very aggressive and very physical. I will come at her like no other fighter has come at her before.”

Quick hits

Light heavyweight contender Joshua Buatsi (15-0, 13 KOs), 28, of England, will face the most notable opponent of his career when he meets former world title challenger Maxim Vlasov (45-4, 26 KOs), 35, of Russia, on Dec. 18 (DAZN) at AO Arena in Manchester, England, in the co-feature of the heavyweight rematch between former titlist Joseph Parker and Derek Chisora, Matchroom Boxing announced on Wednesday. In his last fight, Vlasov dropped a debatable majority decision to Joe Smith Jr. for the vacant WBO world title in April.

Top Rank announced it has acquired American rights to the Conlan Boxing card on Friday and it will stream on ESPN+ beginning at 2 p.m. ET. Lewis Crocker (13-0, 7 KOs) will defend his regional welterweight title against Armenia’s Artem Haroyan (17-2-1, 9 KOs) in a 10-rounder at Ulster Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Crocker’s hometown. In the 10-round co-feature, Belfast’s super middleweight Padraig McCrory (12-0, 6 KOs) will defend his regional super middleweight belt against Switzerland’s Celso Neves (8-1-1, 2 KOs).

Show and tell

Like many of the official fight programs Seidman Productions has produced in recent years, the one for Canelo Alvarez-Caleb Plant includes cards of each fighter. With these two additions the set is up to 60 cards. It is Canelo’s third card in the set. It is Plant’s rookie card. They come in a panel with perforation marks if the owner wants to separate the cards, which are easily removal from the program without damaging either the cards or the program. I love the set, although I may be biased since not only do I love cards but I have written the backs for each card in the set. Here are the cards that come in every program for Saturday’s big fight.

Canelo-Plant photo: Esther Lin/Showtime; Mayer-Hamadouche photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

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