By: Hans Themistode
Caleb Plant is leaving no stone unturned.
The IBF super-middleweight belt holder has recently revealed that he’s taking pointers from newly inducted Hall of Famer, Andre Ward. With Plant scheduled to take on Canelo Alvarez on November 6th, with all of the marbles on the line, the 29-year-old belt holder is attempting to peel away knowledge from the mind of Ward.
As an active fighter, Ward was once considered one of the pound-for-pound best in the world. But while he’s highly respected and viewed as an all-time great, Ryan Garcia believes that his help will ultimately be inconsequential.
“Andre Ward can’t fight for Plant,” said Garcia during an interview with FightHype.com. “It doesn’t matter, you can give all the advice that you want, it’s not going to change anything.”
Regardless of Ward’s help, oddsmakers have seemingly taken the side of Garcia. Currently, Alvarez is pegged as an overwhelming favorite to not only win his unification clash against Plant but to do so before the sound of the final.
In the eyes of the betting public, Plant’s minuscule chances stem from his lack of fights against top-tier competition. The 29-year-old Nashville, Tennessee native may have defended his world title on three separate occasions, but each opponent, by and large, has been viewed as a no-hoper.
Plant easily dispatched of both Mike Lee and Vincent Feigenbutz before sequentially cruising to a unanimous decision victory against Caleb Truax in January earlier this year.
Considering that Alvarez has built his name on the back of former world champions he’s defeated, the Mexican star is firmly entrenched as one of the best fighters in the entire sport.
As Garcia carefully observes the resume of Plant, he can’t help but raise an incredulous eyebrow at his chances. Unless Ward, a former two-division titlist who retired with an undefeated record after 32 pro fights, enters the ring in place of Plant, Garcia simply has a difficult time seeing how their pairing will benefit the IBF titlist in the slightest.
“I don’t even know how Ward would help. You’re still your fighter, you’re still going to be you. I don’t think it’s going to do anything.”