Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has spent the last year of his
career doing something extremely rare. While much had been publicized about the
fall out with his former promoter Oscar De La Hoya and for a time global
digital subscription sports streaming network DAZN,
a situation this observer chronicled as it played out, inside the ring, Alvarez
was attempting to fully unify the 168lb. Super-Middleweight division. While it
is not uncommon to see fighters attempt similar feats throughout the sport, it
is important to keep in mind that Alvarez was not a recognized world champion
in the weight class at this time last year but did hold an interim/regular
championship designation in the World Boxing Association’s (WBA)
Super-Middleweight ratings, which gave him a mandatory challenge of former
world champion Callum Smith.
As most know, Alvarez began his march towards history by
scoring a twelve round unanimous decision over Smith last December. A fight
that saw him win the previously unbeaten Smith’s WBA crown, but also the vacant
WBC world championship in the division giving him status as a unified world
champion. Alvarez would then score a third round stoppage of WBC mandatory
challenger Avni Yildirim in February of this year. This would then lead to the
next step on the unification path as he would score an eighth round stoppage of
previously unbeaten WBO world champion Billy Joe Saunders in May of this year,
which served as the set up for his bout with undefeated IBF world champion Caleb
Plant on November 6th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas,
NV. The round to becoming undisputed world champion’s final destination.
In
previewing this bout, this observer talked about the various business
elements that surrounded this fight, which unfortunately were more of the story
going into the bout than the encounter itself, including, but not limited to
the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC)’s insistence that this bout take place on
their platform via pay-per-view as opposed to the digital subscription model,
which Alvarez has been a focal point in driving home the value for consumers
for the last three years. While this observer’s stance regarding the
pay-per-view model and such tactics should be well known to readers as well as
those who know me personally, which will be addressed further later in this
column, the shame of such elements that overshadowed this fight is the obvious
in that it took the focus away from the bout itself and the fact that it was to
determine a true rarity in the sport. An Undisputed world champion, the first
in the history of the Super-Middleweight division. What made this even more
rare was the timeframe in which it took Alvarez to go from holding a mandatory
challenger position in an organization’s ratings, to unified world champion, to
now being one step away from being the one and only world champion.
For Caleb Plant, the focus on the business elements also
took away from what was the biggest fight of his career in facing Boxing’s top
drawing card in a fight where if he were successful, he would instantly become
one of the biggest stars in the sport. As a world champion who had defended his
crown four times against relatively non-descript opposition with the exception
of former IBF world champion Caleb Truax, whom he defeated in his last bout
going into this fight, this was the equivalent of having a chance to hit the
lottery for Plant in addition to the career high payday of $10 Million he
earned for facing Alvarez.
There are two sayings that yours truly firmly believes in
however, as it relates to the sport of Boxing and all of combat sports that can
be applied in regard to this fight. One is “Styles Make Fights” and the other
“There are levels to the fight game.” Despite Caleb Plant’s solid Boxing and
athletic ability, I felt as I said in previewing this fight that the story of
the fight would be whether Plant would be able to use his attributes against a
fighter of Alvarez’ caliber. Something that has proven to be easier said than
done for even the highest level of competition Alvarez had faced in four
different weight divisions.
It would prove to be as difficult for Plant. From the
outset, Alvarez applied consistent pressure on Plant. This resulted in Plant
backing up for the majority of the fight. Although Plant threw a consistent jab
throughout and had sporadic success in landing counter punches, he simply could
not land anything to stop Alvarez from coming forward. What was most noticeable
in my eyes was that even though Alvarez had difficulty for a period of time landing
his offense, he was the one that pressed the action and when he did land, he
was landing the cleaner, more effective blows. This resulted in my scoring
seven of the first eight rounds in Alvarez’ favor.
While it is indisputable that Plant was very defensively
sound, he simply did not land enough offense consistently to win the rounds, in
my opinion. The main attribute that Plant executed well in this fight beyond
his jab was his movement. Despite being forced consistently to fight moving
backward, there were periods throughout where his movement made it difficult
for Alvarez to get his punches off. This did not result however, in Plant being
able to land punches that were effective in the sense of being able to hurt or momentarily
halt Alvarez’ from coming forward and with Alvarez forcing the combat, it was
very difficult to score rounds in Plant’s favor.
While Alvarez was not overwhelming with his offense, He did
succeed in making the most out of what punches he did throw and that may have
made the difference in the eyes of some who felt that several of the rounds in
this fight were close. From my perspective, I saw Alvarez implementing an
attack to the body of Plant similar to that in which he has used against previous
opponents. He did not land every time he went to Plant’s body, but you saw a
consistent trend of body shots, which opened opportunities for Alvarez to land
to the head of Plant particularly with his right hand. As the fight went on,
you could also see this tactical approach gradually beginning to slow Plant’s
movement down. An old adage that this observer believes in that can be
interpreted in Boxing terms is if you hit a tree at its base enough times
eventually the head will fall.
In Boxing terms, some refer to the implantation of a
consistent body attack as taking the air out of the tires, in other words,
taking the ability of an opponent to use their legs/movement to evade away from
them as a fight progresses. The stalking approach that Alvarez has implemented
in recent fights including this one reminded yours truly of the approach that
Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. used throughout his legendary career. One aspect that I
saw in this particular fight that I felt worked well for Alvarez was that he
would throw a left hook to Plant’s body and regardless of whether that punch
landed, he would follow it with a left hook to the head in addition to finding
a home for his right hands.
Although Chavez and Alvarez are not similar in terms of
style in my view, the similar approach Alvarez has implemented recently in his
career and did implement here against Plant had similar results to that which
Chavez made his Hall of Fame career on. The gradual breaking down of an
opponent in a systematic and calculated fashion. As I watched this fight during
the first half of the bout, I began to sense that Alvarez might get to Plant
around the seventh round based on what I saw from his approach. This did not
occur, despite the pattern of the fight not changing in that Alvarez continued
to walk Plant down. The one change in this pattern came in round seven where
Alvarez chose to briefly lean against the ropes and motioned to Plant to come
forward almost as if he were challenging the IBF world champion. While this did not last a significant period
of time, I felt Plant did enough in that round to win it on my unofficial
scorecard. I also felt Plant did enough to win the ninth round of the bout.
It may have been a case of Alvarez not being as
aggressive or effective in those two particular rounds and/or a case of him
trying to pace himself, but nevertheless, despite Plant winning those two
rounds clearly in my view, he could not change the pattern of the fight for
long enough to have sustainable success. While my sense that Alvarez might get
to Plant by the middle rounds did not occur, by the late rounds, I did wonder
if Plant would be able to make it to the final bell.
This was due largely to his slowing down as the fight
progressed as a result of Alvarez’ body attack. Caleb Plant deserves all the
credit for being able to hang in against such an attack, which can be
attributed to his solid defense throughout the fight. Even the best defense
however, can at times break. Alvarez would find his breakthrough moment in the
eleventh round. A left hook to the head of Plant set up a flush right uppercut
to the head that sent Plant down for the first time in his career. Although
this knockdown came from head shots, it was the accumulative effect of the body
work Alvarez had done throughout the entire fight, which created this opening
as Plant was not able to evade what Alvarez was throwing as had been the case periodically
throughout the bout. The effects of the body work was also noticeable in Plant
getting up from the knockdown on unsteady legs, but being allowed to continue. Sensing
he had his opponent compromised, Alvarez went in for the finish pouncing on
Plant with a series of unanswered blows that would ultimately send him down for
a second time and result in the fight being stopped.
It was as impressive a victory for Alvarez as he could
have envisioned going into this fight, but more importantly, it was also
mission accomplished in being the first fighter in this observer’s memory to
have won a world championship and gone on to successfully unify an entire division
in the span of one year. When one considers the various political elements that
be in the sport, which as I have said numerous times more often than not serve
the interest of various entities that surround the business of Boxing as
opposed to benefiting the sport, it is a significant accomplishment. Now the question becomes what’s next?
This is where unfortunately, this observer must again bring
up the various business aspects that surrounded this fight going in and where
things might stand now coming out of Alvarez’ victory over Caleb Plant. First,
Alvarez retains his position in holding the power in any negotiation involving
his career, both due to his drawing power as well as the fact that he continues
to win. What does this mean? Well, although this observer remains firm in his
stance that the subscription-based model in which Alvarez has been able to
market effectively over the last three years due to his association with DAZN
is a better model both in terms of what is offered and in terms of value for
the price for a subscription for consumers, the possibility definitely exists
that Premier Boxing Champions,
and it’s television partners Showtime/ViacomCBS and Fox Sports could make
Alvarez an offer to continue to fight under their banner, which would unfortunately
mean more pay-per-view offered to the consumer at inflated prices as both ViacomCBS
and Fox are reluctant to venture into the digital streaming market in terms of
trying to compete with streaming networks like DAZN and ESPN+, despite the fact that ViacomCBS has
invested significantly recently in acquiring sports rights for it’s digital subscription
streaming network Paramount+
(Formerly CBS All Access.), which has including moving it’s weekly Inside The
NFL series from Showtime to Paramount+.
While yours truly has said for a good while in
conversation with those who know me, colleagues who also cover the sport, and
those readers who reach out to me on social media platforms that ViacomCBS does
have the platform through Paramount+ to move Showtime’s Boxing content
including what would be pay-per-view offerings to that network and to do
something along the lines of “Showtime Boxing on Paramount+”, which would then
in addition to all the other sports content they are offering would put them in
a better position to compete in the streaming realm with DAZN and ESPN+, it
does not seem like that is their intention at this point. You would think
however, given the network’s struggles recently with ratings for Boxing cards
that air on the premium Showtime network as well as the average of 200,000 buys
for many recent pay-per-view cards, which are normally priced at $70 or above
that Showtime and maybe even those at the PBC would be looking for a viable
alternative rather than trying to fight against the changing landscape of
television.
Although the possibility also exists that Alvarez might
be interested in a potential offer to fight on ESPN’s streaming network, yours
truly believes the logical option would be for him to return to DAZN where
prior to this fight, he has maintained a working relationship with the network,
despite the bump in the road that occurred due largely to his split from his
former promoter Oscar De La Hoya more so than issues with the network itself.
In addition to continuing to fight on DAZN’s network for his previous three
bouts prior to facing Plant, Alvarez has also enjoyed a working relationship
with promoter Eddie Hearn, which in addition to those three bouts has seen
Alvarez also in position as a co-promoter along with Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing
on cards staged in Mexico. With one such card scheduled to take place in Mexico
later in the month of November, it makes all the sense that Alvarez would want
to continue that relationship, particularly if the pay-per-view returns on his
fight with Caleb Plant do not deliver what is to be expected once he gets his
portion of revenue.
As for what this means for Alvarez free agent status as
far as promotional entities are concerned, there is certainly nothing saying
that fighters who are currently aligned with the PBC, or with Bob Arum’s Top
Rank, Inc., who has a broadcast agreement with ESPN, shouldn’t be able to fight
on DAZN or other platforms if a lucrative opportunity presents itself. The primary thing Alvarez has demonstrated
clearly was that he wanted to make history by becoming the first Undisputed
Super-Middleweight world champion by facing Caleb Plant. Although clearly the
PBC felt they had more leverage, despite what they might admit publicly due to
the fact that Plant was the only world champion left standing in the division
that Alvarez had not beaten, Alvarez chose to take a risk by returning to
pay-per-view in order for that fight to happen, when theoretically, Plant may
have made more money by facing Alvarez under the DAZN banner than the estimated
$10 million he received. While this is as much an indictment on the business
practices in the sport that more often than not put their interest ahead of the
fighters interests, Alvarez still did what he needed to do to make the fight
happen and accomplished his goal.
Will other fighters who have seen their careers primarily
relegated to fighting under the PBC banner due to the PBC’s unwillingness to
work with outside promoters and networks on a consistent basis follow Alvarez’
example by being willing to face fighters regardless of promotional /network ties?
This observer believes it would be in those fighters best interest to do so
even though that may not be what the PBC or it’s TV partners necessarily want
to hear. It is important to keep in mind that a lot of the reason why many people
did not give Caleb Plant much of a chance against Alvarez was due to the fact
that he has fought exclusively within the PBC realm, and as such, despite being
a world champion who had four successful title defenses going into the fight
with Alvarez, had a lower profile as compared to that of his opponent and was
not particularly known amongst the casual fan. While it should not be overlooked
that some cards in which Plant has headlined that were broadcasts on the main
Fox network in the United States did much higher numbers than anything on
pay-per-view, he was not facing opponents who were known to the casual observer
and that I believe hurt him in terms of his name recognition going into this
fight. Although the fighter cannot be blamed for that, it points out an obvious
flaw in the thinking some promoters and apparently the PBC seem to have that
certain fights have to take place under their banner and on their terms, which
is one reason, perhaps the primary reason why the business of Boxing more often
than not stands in the way of significant progress for the sport.
Despite losing to Alvarez, Caleb Plant certainly has
nothing to be ashamed of and showed his mettle in defeat. It would be nice
however, to see opportunities be opened for him beyond the PBC realm that will allow
him to increase his profile going forward beyond being known as the opponent in
which Saul Alvarez defeated to become an undisputed champion. Plant does have the
skills where he could certainly be in line to fight for a world championship
again either at Super-Middleweight or potentially the 175lb. Light-Heavyweight division.
It may only be a question of whether or not he will be allowed to fight a
fighter or world champion if the opportunity presents itself if it is not under
the PBC banner.
As for Alvarez, he has fought more frequently than any
fighter on the elite level of the sport recently. While he definitely deserves
a rest before resuming his career, there is one fight out there that frankly
needs to happen. This fight would be the long awaited third encounter with Gennady
Golovkin in which Alvarez has both a disputed draw and victory over in two
fights in 2017 and 2018 respectively where they fought for Golovkin’s unified
Middleweight world championship.
Golovkin has gone on to regain unified world champion
status in the 160lb. Middleweight division and will be facing WBA world
champion Ryota Murata in Tokyo, Japan in December. If Golovkin, the current IBF/IBO
Middleweight world champion should defeat Murata, it would make sense for him
to move up eight pounds to challenge Alvarez for his undisputed world
championship given both have a working relationship with DAZN and it is a fight
where honestly there is unfinished business and one that the public has been
demanding. Although the possibility also exists that Golovkin could attempt to
fully unify the Middleweight division, something he appeared to be close to doing
before he faced Alvarez, at almost forty years old, a third encounter with
Alvarez is something that will not be available forever and is the most lucrative
option on the table for Golovkin should he beat Murata. From a business
perspective, it would also be a win for DAZN that has faced some struggles and criticism
from some whether fairly or unfairly in not delivering a fight like this to it’s
network, which has been an alternative to the pay-per-view model, seeing as the
first two times Alvarez and Golovkin fought, each bout did over a million buys
on pay-per-view, proving to be a rare exception over the last decade and a half
by producing a significantly higher buy number than the norm. A fight like this
for the network would also likely boost subscriber numbers in the sense of
bringing new eyes to the network as well as seeing some who may have
unsubscribed return. If Golovkin gets by Murata, it makes sense that in May
2022, when Alvarez says he wants to return to the ring, the fighter standing
across from him would be Gennady Golovkin.
“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”
The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau
Denison All Rights Reserved.
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