All of the smack discuss between Caleb Plant and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez lastly got here to a head final Saturday, November 6, and the previous IBF champion ought to maintain his head excessive.

Plant was aggressive within the early going, pushing the tempo on Alvarez and getting him to be extra defensive whereas using a shoulder roll protection much like that of Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s.

Caleb plant lands a uncommon jab on Saul Alvarez of their November 6, 2021 battle on the MGM Grand Backyard Enviornment in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Photograph: Mikael Ona

Recognizing that Alvarez had problem breaking Mayweather’s protection of their battle, Plant leaned closely into this recreation plan as he hoped that his opponent’s aggressive nature will permit him to land some clear pictures.

The issue for Plant right here is two-fold: Alvarez had discovered from his errors in combating Mayweather and the American shouldn’t be as proficient as Mayweather is in terms of doing the shoulder roll.

The 29-year-old didn’t totally decide to the shoulder roll protection as he combined it up with a regular high-guard protection and lacked the proficiency that Mayweather has.

Furthermore, he would lean again however would neglect the little issues like utilizing his forearm to dam the jabs and rolling with the punches.

Alvarez took benefit of this and threw lead left hooks repeatedly proper into the higher midsection of Plant’s physique and proper fingers excessive of his shoulder, forcing him to open up and be vulnerable to combos.

All of this stuff would culminate in direction of him being knocked down for the primary time in his profession and the following sequence in direction of the knockout end within the eleventh spherical.

Going up in opposition to a fighter as elite as Alvarez isn’t any simple feat, and Plant did his greatest to hold within the ring with the very first undisputed champion of the tremendous middleweight division.

To Plant’s credit score, Alvarez shouldn’t be a straightforward drawback to resolve and he did have his moments within the battle after tagging him with counters, however not any exhausting pictures that made “Canelo” transfer away from his recreation plan.

There’s a cause why he was a champion previous to going through Alvarez, however the 31-year-old Mexican was merely simply ranges above him by way of ability within the ring.

Getting his first-ever profession loss to one of many sport’s biggest fighters is nothing to be ashamed about and Plant deserves greater than sufficient credit score for taking Alvarez’s pictures for the higher a part of 11 rounds.

What Plant ought to take away from this battle is that his boxing basis is sturdy sufficient to hold with Alvarez, however he lacks the polish to actually contend at that stage.

Caleb Plant lands a proper hook on Saul “Canelo” Alvarez of their November 6, 2021 battle on the MGM Grand Backyard Enviornment in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Photograph: Mikael Ona

If shedding to Mayweather was Alvarez’s career-changing battle, Plant ought to see this loss the identical means.

The best fighters in boxing historical past know the right way to bounce again from a loss, and Plant does have the instruments to compete for titles, however a minimum of now he is aware of which sides of his recreation want extra follow.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez” lands a punch by means of the guard of Caleb Plant of their November 6, 2021 battle on the MGM Grand Backyard Enviornment in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Photograph: Mikael Ona