Canelo becomes undisputed super middleweight champ with TKO of Plant
Canelo Alvarez defeated Caleb Plant via 11th-round technical knockout to become the undisputed super middleweight champion, unifying the WBA, WBO, WBC, and IBF belts at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday.
The Mexico native is the first to unify the super middleweight titles in the four-belt era.
All hail the king π@Canelo TKO's Caleb Plant in the 11th round π³#CaneloPlant pic.twitter.com/y5mXvWafr7
β SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) November 7, 2021
Canelo, who improved to 57-1-2 with 39 KOs, handed Plant his first-ever loss. Additionally, the 11th round was the first time any fighter had ever knocked Plant to the canvas.
The 31-year-old Canelo landed a total of 117 punches with a 32% success rate, and 102 of those strikes were deemed power punches.
Plant, now 21-1 with 12 knockouts, held his own for the first 10 rounds but was knocked down twice in what proved to be the final round.
The 29-year-old American finished close to Canelo in landed punches with 101. But Plant threw a lot more as well, possessing a meager 23% success rate, with 59 strikes deemed power punches.
The judge's scorecards unanimously favored Canelo at the time of the stoppage, 96-94, 97-93, and 98-92, according to ESPN's Mike Coppinger.