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By: Hans Themistode
Caleb Plant is sitting alone on an island. But he doesn’t mind.
With the majority of the boxing public viewing the IBF super middleweight champion as a no-hoper in his contest against Canelo Alvarez on November 6th, Plant has decided to tune out the noise.
While he acknowledges that defeating Alvarez is a monumental task, the 29-year-old belt holder is as confident as ever.
“I know I’m gonna win this fight,” said Plant during an interview with Brian Custer on The Last Stand Podcast. “I’m confident as I’ve ever been.”
Despite the fearless attitude of Plant, Alvarez is still pegged as a significant favorite. By and large, the Mexican product is considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, regardless of weight classes.
During his recent 168 pound run, Alvarez has taken care of business in dominant fashion. In December of 2020, Alvarez easily outboxed Callum Smith and ultimately stripped him of his WBA world title. In the process, Alvarez also snagged the vacant WBC and Ring Magazine belts.
After a quick pitstop against Avni Yildirim in February earlier this year, stopping the journeymen in the third round, Alvarez would take on Billy Joe Saunders. The elusive British product would find moments of success in the early goings. But eventually, Alvarez found the fight-ending blow in the eighth round, finishing off his rival and both stripping him of his WBO title and sending him into retirement.
With Plant facing the likes of Mike Lee, Vincent Feigenbutz, and most recently, Caleb Truax – the title reign of Plant has been viewed as somewhat lackluster in comparison.
Regardless of the lack of big-time opponents on his resume, Plant is still firmly backing himself in his upcoming showdown against Alvarez. Those who continue to doubt him won’t ruffle his feathers. As long the man in the mirror believes he’ll pull off the improbable victory, that’s all that matters.
“I don’t need you guys to believe. I don’t need you guys to support me or root for me. I’ve been doing it my whole life without people doing that. When the bell rings, can’t none of y’all get in their for me anyways. I don’t need y’all to believe it. The only person that needs to believe it is me.”
