By: Hans Themistode
Although Canelo Alvarez has yet to claim the fourth and final world title at 168 pounds, in the mind of Tim Bradley, it’s already a foregone conclusion.
After defeating Billy Joe Saunders via eighth-round stoppage for his WBO title just a few weeks ago, Caleb Plant remains the only super-middleweight belt holder outside of Alvarez. The Mexican star made it no secret that his next target will, in fact, be Plant for an undisputed showdown this coming September.
While Bradley does admire the skills that Plant (21-0, 12 KOs) brings to the table, in his opinion, Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 KOs) is simply the best fighter in the world and he’ll make it look easy against Plant in a few more months.
“Canelo is the number one fighter in the world, by far,” said Bradley during an interview with Behind The Gloves. “In nine months, he captured three straps, bout to be four cause he’s going to beat the dog hell out of Plant. No disrespect, I like Plant, he got skills but he makes a ton of mistakes and he’s going to have to raise his game if he’s going to beat a guy like Canelo.”
Plant, 28, continued his dominant title run with an easy win over former belt holder, Caleb Truax on January 30th earlier this year. While he has barely lost a single round during his career, Plant hasn’t exactly fought a who’s who of names either. Still, even with the lack of big-time opposition plastered on his resume, the Nashville, Tennessee native believes he’s fully prepared to strip Alvarez of his world titles and become the first 168 pound undisputed champion of all time.
That notion, however, is simply laughable to Bradley. With the Hall of Fame names that Alvarez has shared the ring with, the pound-for-pound star simply appears to be several steps ahead of the competition at the moment.
“Just too much experience,” explained Bradley. “He’s fighting at the ultimate level, at the top of his game, things have slowed down for him inside the ring. He’s see’s stuff come before it even happens. He can predict things, he understands where he needs to be at all times.”