Caleb Plant aims for a rematch against Canelo with WBA interim title fight

Caleb Plant hopes to be involved in the next fight with unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez when he faces Trevor McCumby for the interim WBA middleweight title this Saturday, September 14, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Canelo already knocked out Plant in the 11th round on November 6, 2021, and there is little interest in a rematch from the Mexican superstar and certainly not from the fans.

Canelo rematch: A financial stroke of luck

Plant has lost two of his last three fights and has not fought in 18 months since his 12-round unanimous decision loss to David Benavidez on March 25, 2023.

Understandably, one can see why Plant is eager to get a rematch with Canelo, as he is said to have a 10 million US dollars Payday for this fight. Plant, 32, won't make that much money fighting anyone else for the rest of his career.

It's possible that Plant would be finished as a boxer if he faced any of the young contenders like Christian Mbilli, Osleys Iglesias and Diego Pacheco. You can't blame Plant for pushing for a rematch with Canelo, as it's certainly better than facing the young killers for less money and likely being sent into retirement.

Dirrell’s victory: a boost of confidence

Caleb Plant accomplished a lot in his last win two years ago when he knocked out 38-year-old Anthony Dirrell in the ninth round on October 15, 2022, but that wasn't against one of the top contenders in the 168 class.

This was a no-brainer against an old, washed-up fighter, and he didn't say anything about Plant beating the older fighter. Now if Plant had beaten a young and talented fighter like Iglesias, Pacheco or Mbilli, it would be a joke, but not Dirrell.

In this situation, Plant was certainly given an opponent designed to make him look better than he is and rebuild him after his 11th KO loss to Canelo in 2021.

Oddly enough, Plant continues to talk about his win over Dirrell and act like he accomplished something instead of admitting what the fight was about. It was a confidence booster that got Plant used to winning again and made it seem like he was back.

If Plant were back, he would have beaten David Benavidez last year and wouldn't have to be out of the ring for 18 months after that loss.

Plant's promoters have done an excellent job of finding a beatable opponent, Trevor McCumby, for the fight and the World Boxing Association has sanctioned the fight for their interim barweight belt, even though Caleb's record is only 1-2 in his last two fights.

Former IBF champion Plant (22-2, 13 KOs) believes that with the promotion of the WBA's “regular” super middleweight champion, David Morrell, to the 175 class, the title will become vacant and he will be given it as a gift.

So if Plant wins the interim WBA belt against McCumby on Saturday, the title will become a “regular” world title. Since Canelo holds the full WBA super middleweight title, the 32-year-old Plant could face him next or soon.

It is ultimately Canelo’s decision

As we saw with Morrell, holding the WBA “regular” title does not guarantee that Plant will get a chance against Canelo. The Mexican star never took any notice of Morrell when he held the WBA “regular” belt, and he probably could have remained champion for the rest of Canelo's career without getting a fight against him.

It depends on whether Canelo wants to fight Plant again because fans don't want to see a rematch between them. They want to see Canelo fight fresh blood like Benavidez, Morrell, Pacheco, Artur Beterbiev or a rematch with his former conqueror Dmitry Bivol.

“With the WBA interim agreement [168-lb] Title on the line and [regular super middleweight champion] David Morrell rises to 175, there is a good chance that the winner [of Trevor McCumby-Plant fight]”I feel like I've moved up to being a 'regular' WBA champion. Canelo has a WBA world title. So if you can do the math, that puts me in a good position,” Caleb Plant said on the YouTube channel Cigar Talk, hinting that he wants to be Canelo Alvarez's next opponent in a rematch.

“At the moment my full attention is on the task ahead of me [McCumby]”, Plant said.

Best fighters at 168:

Christian Mbilli
Osley Iglesias
Diego Pacheco
Jaime Munguia
Caleb Plant
Sergiy Derevyanchenko
Edgar Berlanga
Kevin Lele Sadjo
Bektemir Melikuziev
Erik Bazinyan