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Mike CoppingerESPN
Canelo Alvarez is inching toward his goal of collecting all four titles at 168 pounds.
Alvarez, boxing’s biggest star, and Caleb Plant are closing in on a deal for a Sept. 18 bout in Las Vegas — a PBC on Fox pay-per-view — that will crown an undisputed super middleweight champion, multiple sources tell ESPN. Canelo, a promotional and network free agent, was offered a one-fight deal with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions that will likely net Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 KOs) a career-high guaranteed payday.
He earned $35 guaranteed for three fights with DAZN and nearly $40 million for the rematch with Gennadiy Golovkin. Alvarez’s last three fights were promoted by Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Sport. The Mexican star is coming off a stoppage win over Billy Joe Saunders where he inflicted a fully fractured orbital bone on the Englishman.
Alvarez is ESPN’s No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer (and also No. 1 at 168 pounds). Plant (21-0, 12 KOs), who won his title in January 2019 against Jose Uzcategui, is ESPN’s No. 3 super middleweight. The undefeated 29-year-old lives and trains in Las Vegas. He scored a unanimous decision victory over Caleb Truax in January, the third defense of his title.
Alvarez, 31, hasn’t fought on PPV since the aforementioned return bout with GGG in September 2018.