Caleb Plant hopes to put himself in the mix for unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez’s next fight when he faces Trevor McCumby this Saturday, September 14th, for the WBA interim 168-lb title at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Canelo already knocked out Plant in the 11th round on November 6th, 2021, and there might not be much interest from the Mexican superstar, and certainly not with the fans to see a rematch.
Canelo Rematch: A Financial Windfall
Plant has lost two out of his last three fights and hasn’t fought in 18 months since his 12-round unanimous decision loss to David Benavidez on March 25, 2023.
Understandably, you can see why Plant is eager to get a rematch with Canelo, as he reportedly got a $10 million payday for that fight. The 32-year-old Plant isn’t going to see that kind of money fighting anyone else for the remainder of what’s left of his career.
It’s possible that Plant would be finished off as a fighter if he took on one of the young contenders, like Christian Mbilli, Osleys Iglesias, and Diego Pacheco. You can’t blame Plant for pushing for a rematch against Canelo because it sure beats fighting the young killers for less money and likely winding up being sent into retirement.
The Dirrell Victory: A Confidence Booster
Caleb Plant got a lot of mileage out of his last win two years ago, knocking out 38-year-old Anthony Dirrell in the ninth round on October 15, 2022, but that wasn’t against one of the top-rung contenders at 168.
That was a gimme against an old, washed-up fighter, and he didn’t say anything about Plant that he beat the older fighter. Now, if Plant beat someone young and talented like Iglesias, Pacheco or Mbilli, then we’re talking, but not Dirrell.
In that situation, Plant was given an opponent for a sure thing to make him look better than he is to rebuild him after his 11th knockout loss to Canelo in 2021.
Strangely, Plant continues to talk up his victory over Dirrell, acting like he accomplished something rather than admitting what the fight is all about. It was a confidence booster to get Plant used to winning again and to give the appearance that he was back.
If Plant was back, he would have beaten David Benavidez last year and wouldn’t have sat out of the ring for 18 months after that loss.
Plant’s promoters have done an excellent job of finding a beatable guy, Trevor McCumby, for him to fight, and the World Boxing Association has sanctioned the fight for their interim 168-lb belt, even though Caleb’s record is a lowly 1-2 in his last two contests.
The former IBF champion Plant (22-2, 13 KOs) thinks that with WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight champ David Morrell moving up to 175, the title will fall vacant, and he’ll get it given to him.
So, if Plant captures the WBA interim belt against McCumby on Saturday, the title will be elevated to a ‘regular’ world belt. With Canelo holding the full WBA super middleweight title, it would put Plant, 32, in a position to face him next or soon.
It’s Ultimately Canelo’s Call
As we saw with Morrell, holding the WBA ‘regular’ title doesn’t guarantee that Plant will get a shot against Canelo. The Mexican star never took any notice of Morrell when he held the WBA ‘regular’ belt, and he could have likely stayed champion for the remainder of Canelo’s career without getting a fight against him.
It comes down to whether Canelo will want to fight Plant again because fans don’t want to see a rematch between them. They want Canelo to fight some new blood, like Benavidez, Morrell, Pacheco, Artur Beterbiev, or a rematch with his former conqueror Dmitry Bivol.
“With the WBA interim [168-lb] title on the line and [regular super middleweight champion] David Morrell moving up to 175, there’s a good chance the winner [of Trevor McCumby-Plant fight], me, being elevated to WBA ‘regular’ champ. Canelo has a WBA World title. So, if you can do the math on that, it’s going to put me in a good spot,” said Caleb Plant to the Cigar Talk YouTube channel, hinting that he wants to be the next opponent for Canelo Alvarez to fight in a rematch.
“Right now, my full attention is on the task in front of me [McCumby],” said Plant.
Best fighters at 168:
Christian Mbilli
Osleys Iglesias
Diego Pacheco
Jaime Munguia
Caleb Plant
Sergiy Derevyanchenko
Edgar Berlanga
Kevin Lele Sadjo
Bektemir Melikuziev
Erik Bazinyan
