CANELO ALVAREZ and Caleb Plant did not face off at their press conference on Wednesday.
A previous head-to-head had spiraled out of control but there was no danger of a repeat at the MGM Garden Arena today. Both men in fact retained their composure throughout. “My emotions are under control,” Canelo said. “I can remain calm, because this is what I do.”
Afterwards though Plant said the face off was not cancelled at his request. “They didn’t want us to do a face-to-face. That was their call not mine. I like a face-to-face,” he explained.
“I’m locked in, focused,” he continued. “Because you never know how many times you’re going to be called, how many opportunities you’re going to get in life. So when they come you’ve got to make sure that you’re prepared.”
He has looked at the boxers who used their footwork and movement against Canelo, like Floyd Mayweather and Erislandy Lara, but insists that, in contrast, he is a proper super-middleweight and big enough to give Alvarez additional problems. “I possess a lot of the same skills and attributes that those guys did, they gave him a lot of trouble but I’m a fully fledged super-middleweight. Even things like Amir Khan, I possess a lot of the same skills and speed but again I’m 6ft 1½ and I’m a fully fledged super-middleweight. I’ve been fighting at this weight for a long time. I won the Golden Glove nationals [as an amateur] at 178lbs. So since those fights that he had trouble with, who has he fought to prove that he no longer has trouble with that?”
And there’s another element Plant throws into the mix when he compares himself to Alvarez. “I know I’m the hungrier fighter,” he says.
Alvarez however maintains that if it had been the Canelo of today boxing Floyd Mayweather, it would have been a different fight. “Definitely it’s going to be different. Because I’m more mature, stronger, with more experience. Definitely it’s going to be different,” he said. “I’m a way different fighter.”
Alvarez insists Plant’s style will not throw him off. “I’ve faced many good fighters with skills that are similar to Caleb. It’s a style that I’ve seen before and I know what to do with it. That just gives me confidence in my experience heading into this fight,” he said. “I always train 100% my hardest and for the style of my opponent. I like the idea that Caleb is coming in believing he will win this fight. It’s going to make it more exciting.”
Plant has it all to win. But Canelo has loftier aims of his own. “The goal is to be an all-time great. I’m so proud of the journey I’ve taken to achieve that. I’m not going to stop until I’ve tried my best to reach that goal,” he said.
Only one of them will be proved right. The issue will be decided Saturday night at the MGM Grand arena. “You’re going to want to tune in to this fight. This fight is going to be history,” Canelo promises. “You’re going to be witnessing something that you’re going to remember for a long time.”
