IBF super-middleweight champion Caleb Plant says offers have been out by his team to WBA 168-lb champion Callum Smith and IBF middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin for a fight. Plant (20-0, 12 KOs) will be waiting to see if there’s interest from either of those fighters.
Golovkin (40-1-1, 35 KOs) isn’t likely to take the fight with Plant, since he’s got an IBF mandatory coming up against Kamil Szeremeta in April. That could be the last hurdle for GGG before facing Canelo Alvarez in September in a trilogy fight. Plant would be a huge risk for Golovkin right now, and he’s not likely to take the chance of losing.
Callum (27-0, 19 KOs) could be a possibility for Plant depending on his promoter Eddie Hearn. The 6”3″ Smith was one of the options for Canelo Alvarez until recently.
Hearn has said that if Callum doesn’t get the fight with Canelo or Billy Joe Saunders next, then he would look to put him in with Danny Jacobs or possibly Demetrius Andrade. Both of those fighters are promoted by Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing stable.
Also, Plant (20-0, 12 KOs) says fights against Canelo Alvarez and David Benavidez aren’t possible. Canelo fights in 9 weeks on May 2, and he won’t be able to fight him. WBC super-middleweight champion Benavidez will be facing replacement opponent Lionel Thompson next, and then after that his WBC mandatory Avni Yildirim.
“I’ve always been honest and always been upfront with you guys. My team has sent out an offer to Callum Smith, and we also sent out an offer and reached out to GGG to set-up a fight,” said Caleb Plant to @StevESPNKim. “That would be on DAZN. Do you think that would be a pay-per-view worthy fight?” said Plant when asked if he would face Callum in the UK. “I mean, we got to see if he says, ‘Yeah,’ first, do you know what I’m saying? But that’s something we do want to see happen,” said Plant.
The timing of Plant’s offer to Golovkin is bad. That’s a fight that might have a shot at happening in 2021 after Golovkin faces Canelo this September. Of course, if GGG beats Canelo, then those two will be looking to face each other a fourth time. Plant wouldn’t be in the picture for either of those guys.
Callum is the best option by far for Plant, but it would be surprising if Hearn made that fight. Plant has a crafty fighting style that is bad for the lanky Smith. With Smith looking so bad in his last fight against John Ryder, Plant would likely expose all the flaws in Callum’s game.
Knowing Hearn, if he’s going to put Callum into a risky fight, it’ll be with either a big name like Canelo or one of his Matchroom stable fighters.
“We do want to give fans great fights, and I do want to fight the best,” said Plant. “I’m not just in this for the money, so I’m not just going to jump on an opportunity that’s not reasonable. So we’re going to try and reach out to make another unification fight.
“If David [Benavidez] can’t fight and can’t unify because he’s got the replacement for [Avni] Yildirim, and then after that, he’s got to face Yildirim.
“The Canelo fight is only 9 weeks away, and I CAN’T do that. And if he’s fighting Billy Joe [Saunders], and we’ve already heard that he is, then I’ll try and make a unification fight with Callum Smith,” said Plant.
It looks bad that Plant isn’t willing to agree to fight Canelo Alvarez because he’s taken a lot of flak from the boxing public for not being willing to start training camp off of 2 weeks rest from his title defense against Vincent Feigenbutz last Saturday night. Plant didn’t sustain a lot of damage in that one-sided fight.
I doubt that any of the big names in the 160lbs and 168lbs weight classes are eager to face each other, since their preference is to wait for the mega-payday that is provided by the opportunity to face Canelo.
So it doesn’t make any sense for GGG or Callum Smith to agree to a Caleb Plant fight, if they’re only going to receive a modest payday for engaging in a high-risk bout.
In terms of Caleb Plant’s refusal to consider being Canelo’s opponent for May 2nd, I feel this is a wise decision to make.
Only he knows his own body and no fighter should take a fight if they have doubts in their own ability to enter the ring at 100%.
It would simply be a money grab that would do a huge disservice to fight fans if they chose to do otherwise, as per Sergey Kovalev’s fraudulent conduct last November.
keirw wrote: ↑20 Feb 2020, 13:06
I like Plant, but I think Smith beats him handily.
Smith looked limited vs Ryder, but Smith underestimated Ryder, who has a difficult style to look good against.
Plant vs Ryder would be a very good fight, come to think of it.
i was thinking the same thing on them perfomances plant would of beat smith, but smith no near as he could be in that fight. i rate plant highly , he would beat ryder wide for me , and iam a ryder fan
keirw wrote: ↑20 Feb 2020, 13:06
I like Plant, but I think Smith beats him handily.
Smith looked limited vs Ryder, but Smith underestimated Ryder, who has a difficult style to look good against.
Plant vs Ryder would be a very good fight, come to think of it.
i was thinking the same thing on them perfomances plant would of beat smith, but smith no near as he could be in that fight. i rate plant highly , he would beat ryder wide for me , and iam a ryder fan
Yeah, Plant would be favourite vs Ryder, I just think their styles would mesh well.
i was thinking the same thing on them perfomances plant would of beat smith, but smith no near as he could be in that fight. i rate plant highly , he would beat ryder wide for me , and iam a ryder fan
Yeah, Plant would be favourite vs Ryder, I just think their styles would mesh well.
Agree be a good fight remember we ain't seen plant pressured John would do that
boxing_rocks wrote: ↑22 Feb 2020, 17:35
There is no point for Plant to fight Ryder. He can't gain anything from that.
He gains:
1) A paycheck.
2) A title defense.
3) The bragging rights of beating the guy who (for all intents and purposes) beat Callum Smith, which in turn gives him an argument for being #1 in the division.
boxing_rocks wrote: ↑22 Feb 2020, 17:35
There is no point for Plant to fight Ryder. He can't gain anything from that.
He gains:
1) A paycheck.
2) A title defense.
3) The bragging rights of beating the guy who (for all intents and purposes) beat Callum Smith, which in turn gives him an argument for being #1 in the division.
boxing_rocks wrote: ↑22 Feb 2020, 17:35
There is no point for Plant to fight Ryder. He can't gain anything from that.
He gains:
1) A paycheck.
2) A title defense.
3) The bragging rights of beating the guy who (for all intents and purposes) beat Callum Smith, which in turn gives him an argument for being #1 in the division.
Fighting somebody with a better record would gain
1) A BETTER paycheck
2) A REAL title defence and possibly another title
3) Bragging rights of beating somebody better than a guy stopped by Nick Blackwell and Rocky Fielding, Arnfield leftover.
The idea that anyone would be a more "REAL" title defense than Ryder is kind of laughable. The guy straight up beat the #1 guy in the division and was robbed by the judges. Who gives a shit who he lost to 3 years ago?
Sure someone like Jacobs or Smith himself would probably be a bigger payday but those are probably also extremely difficult fights to negotiate.
jujigatame wrote: ↑22 Feb 2020, 22:17
The idea that anyone would be a more "REAL" title defense than Ryder is kind of laughable. The guy straight up beat the #1 guy in the division and was robbed by the judges. Who gives a poo who he lost to 3 years ago?
Sure someone like Jacobs or Smith himself would probably be a bigger payday but those are probably also extremely difficult fights to negotiate.
Smith just wasn't there on that night. Ryder is still the same guy who was stopped by Blackwell.
