Canelo Álvarez vs. Caleb Plant

A deal was closed for the fight to take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada on September 18, 2021,^[3] but talks broke down over disagreements in the contract.^[4] A potential fight with WBA (Super) light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol then seemed likely for Álvarez, however the September 18 date was scrapped. A deal was revisited between the two parties for a fight in November 2021.^[5] On August 19, 2021, both fighters were confirmed to have agreed to terms and soon afterwards, the fight was officially announced on Álvarez's Instagram page.^[6]

On September 21, 2021, the two fighters were engaged in a brief onstage scuffle during their first press conference, in which Álvarez initiated physical contact during their face-off when he shoved Plant. Álvarez stated that he had done this because he took offense to Plant's use of the word "motherfucker", interpreting it as an insult to his mother. Plant denied to reporters that he had used the common American curse word in that context. Moreover, he drew attention to Álvarez's hypocrisy, accurately indicating that Álvarez had previously used the same slur against Demetrius Andrade on the night of May 8, 2021 in the aftermath of his fight against Billy Joe Saunders in Arlington, Texas.^[7][8]

The bouts featured on the PPV undercard were announced on October 18, 2021, with Anthony Dirrell facing off against Marcos Hernandez, Rey Vargas going up against Leonardo Baez, and Elvis Rodriguez taking on Juan Pablo Romero.^[9]

Plant would use feints, an educated jab and smooth footwork to stay off the ropes and mostly out of harm's way for the first few rounds. However Alvarez would break Plant down with relentless pressure and dedicated attacks to the body. In round 10, a left hook followed by a right uppercut sent Plant down, he beat the count but appeared to be on unsteady legs and in the next round a barrage of shots sent him down again prompting referee Russell Mora to wave it off giving Álvarez a TKO victory.^[10][11][12] At the time of the stoppage, Álvarez was ahead on the scorecards with 98–92, 96–94, and 97–93. ESPN has it 98–92 for Álvarez.^[13][14] With the victory, Álvarez had become only the fourth boxer to be an undisputed champion since the four-belt era began in 2007, following Terence Crawford, Oleksandr Usyk and Josh Taylor.^[15]

At the WBC Convention on 15 November in Mexico City, the WBC approved the request of Álvarez's trainer and manager, Eddy Reynoso, to have Álvarez challenge Ilunga Makabu for his WBC cruiserweight title. Álvarez has never competed at cruiserweight, so Reynoso had needed to petition the WBC to order the title fight. The fight had been rumoured to take place in May 2022.^[16][17] This ultimately did not materialize, as Makabu was forced into a mandatory defense of his title in a rematch against Thabiso Mchunu on 29 January 2022. Instead, it was announced on 25 February 2022 that Álvarez had signed a two-fight deal with Matchroom Boxing; the first fight would see him returning to the light heavyweight division to challenge undefeated WBA champion Dmitry Bivol on 7 May.^[18]

Confirmed bouts:^[19]

Weight Class		vs.		Method	Round	Time	Notes
Super middleweight	Canelo Álvarez (c)	def.	Caleb Plant (c)	TKO	11/12	1:05	Note 1
Super middleweight	Anthony Dirrell	def.	Marcos Hernandez	KO	4/10	0:22
Super bantamweight	Rey Vargas	def.	Leonardo Baez	UD	10
Super lightweight	Elvis Rodriguez	def.	Juan Pablo Romero	KO	5/10	2:59
Preliminary Card
Lightweight	Jose Antonio Meza	def.	Jose Manuel Gomez	UD	8
Super flyweight	Fernando Diaz	def.	Jan Salvatierra	KO	5/6	2:16
Super flyweight	Joselito Velázquez	def.	Gilberto Mendoza	UD	8
Welterweight	Rances Barthelemy	def.	Gustavo David Vittori	TKO	2/8	1:54

^Note 1 For WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO and The Ring super middleweight titles