By: Hans Themistode
Canelo Alvarez has never been particularly fond of any of his opponents but he’s never been completely angered by them either.
Throughout the course of his career, the Mexican star has traded verbal insults with Gennadiy Golovkin, nearly came to blows with Daniel Jacobs, and appeared visibly annoyed with Billy Joe Saunders. Still, despite Alvarez feeling acrimonious towards his past foes, no one has gotten under his skin the way Caleb Plant has.
“This is new for me,” said Alvarez during an interview with ShowtimeBoxing. “I’ve never had as much bad blood with an opponent like this one.”
The sudden disdain Alvarez harbors for Plant, all came about during what appeared to be your run-of-the-mill introductory press conference.
On September 21st, both Alvarez and Plant met face to face for the first time since signing their bout agreement. Although the two are currently scheduled to face off on November 6th, at MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, Nevada, the pair couldn’t wait until the official night of the fight before letting fists fly.
As the two faced off, both men began jawing back and forth. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Alvarez pushed Plant nearly halfway across the stage. The Mexican native would later reveal that the shove was due to Plant repeatedly saying the words “mother f*cker.”
From there, all hell broke loose. A noticeably irritated Plant shrugged off several media members who attempted to hold him back as he marched right to the face of his upcoming foe. Once Plant got within range, he connected on an open-handed slap on the chin of Alvarez.
The pound-for-pound star would immediately react to the attack of Plant by landing two shots of his own, one of which caused a fairly deep gash under the right eye of Plant.
An enraged Alvarez would later grab the microphone during their presser and would proceed to tell Plant and everyone who was listening, that he would stop the IBF super middleweight titleholder in less than eight rounds.
Even with time to cool off, Alvarez is still none too pleased with the actions of Plant. As the Mexican star recalls past pre-fight encounters with previous rivals, he simply can’t recall a time where he was more irate with an upcoming opponent.
“This is the most animosity that I’ve had heading into a big prizefight.”