Canelo Alvarez cuts Caleb Plant’s eye with punch during pre-fight news conference

Canelo Alvarez and Caleb Plant, boxing’s top super middleweight fighters, traded swings a little earlier than expected at a Tuesday news conference officially announcing their fight.

Video from the Los Angeles news conference shows Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 KOs) shoving Plant (21-0, 12 KOs) before the two punched each other. Plant is the first to let loose a punch, though Alvarez’s quick reflexes saved him from taking a big left hand from the reigning IBF super middleweight champion. Alvarez then looks to get two hits in, including one aimed at Plant’s right eye:

Warning: Profanity used.

According to a report from ESPN’s Mike Coppinger, Plant suffered a “big gash” under his eye that “bled profusely.”

The two were eventually separated before the confrontation could devolve further. Regardless, it reportedly began after Plant called Alvarez “a host of names,” cheater among them. Shortly after the incident, Canelo tweeted another video of their confrontation with the caption, “Don’t talk about my mom.”

Part of Plant’s accusations come from the fact Oscar Valdez — who trains under Eddy Reynoso as part of Team Canelo — tested positive for a banned substance and was still allowed to compete in his WBC super featherweight title on Sept. 10.

Plant on Sept. 2 said everything out of Canelo’s camp is “intentional,” referring to a 2018 incident in which Canelo tested positive for a banned substance after eating meat in Mexico. Plant added that someone with Canelo’s standing and experience in the sport should have known better than to commit such an easily avoidable mistake; he also wondered aloud how much he would have had to eat to result in such high HGH levels, insinuating he used it as a cover for taking banned substances.

Alvarez and Plant will fight on Nov. 6 to unify the super middleweight belt for the first time of the four-belt era. Plant has claimed the IBF super championship since Jan. 3, 2019, when he beat Jose Uzcategui via unanimous decision. He has had three successful title defenses since.

He will put his belt on the line for Alvarez’s, including the WBA (Super), WBC, WBO, and The Ring super middleweight titles. This will be Alvarez’s fourth straight fight in the weight class after claiming the since-vacated light heavyweight title on Nov. 12, 2019. He won the WBA (Super), The Ring and WBC titles against Callum Smith via unanimous decision on Dec. 19, 2020, then won the WBO against Billy Joe Saunders on May 8.

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