Canelo looking to make history in unification bout as UFC star Usman eyes blockbuster clash

By Sports Desk November 03, 2021

Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez said he is focused on becoming an all-time great as the Mexican star prepares for his unification showdown with Caleb Plant.

Canelo (56-1-2) will put his WBA, WBC and WBO belts on the line against unbeaten IBF champion Plant (21-0) in Saturday's blockbuster clash in Las Vegas.

Ahead of his historic tilt at the undisputed super middleweight crown, Canelo made clear his intentions in the final news conference before the mouth-watering bout.

"That's the goal, to be an all-time great," Canelo said during Wednesday's news conference, with the winner to become the first undisputed super middleweight champion in the four-belt era. "I'm so proud of trying to achieve that.

"I'm never going to stop until I try my best to be one of the all-time greats. Only one thing goes through my mind, and that's winning.

"That's the only thing I'm concerned about. Everything else is beyond me. The only thing I care about is what's going to happen inside the ring on Saturday night."

Canelo added: "The fact that I can make history this weekend along with Formula One driver Sergio Perez, is very motivating for me. My goal is to make this an unbelievable weekend for Mexico."

The midweek meeting was much more civil than September's news conference after the pair were involved in a physical altercation.

"People are going to say what they're going to say. But I get the final say and I can't wait to prove everything in the ring. I can't focus on what other people say about me. If I listened to the doubters, I wouldn't even be here," American boxer Plant said.

"I've been the underdog before. It's a place I like to be. I like people rooting against me. It gives me extra motivation, but when you're fighting Canelo for undisputed status, you don’t need much more motivation than that.

"Make sure you tune in. This isn't just the biggest fight of the year, but you're tuning in to witness history when I get crowned the undisputed super middleweight champion."

Meanwhile, UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman is eyeing a sensational boxing clash with Canelo.

Usman – riding a wave of 14 straight victories, the second most in history – flagged the idea ahead of Saturday's UFC 268 in New York, which would be reminiscent of mixed-martial arts star Conor McGregor's boxing match against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2017.

McGregor lost to undefeated five-division world champion Mayweather via a 10th-round TKO.

"I think that's something that [would be] the biggest ever in history," Usman said, speaking ahead of Saturday's UFC 268 in New York. "That's what I'm looking to do. That's something that scares me. That's something that gets me up in the morning. That's something that I might risk leaving my daughter for another 12 weeks for.

"He's a master of his craft," Usman said of Canelo. "He's used to these boxers. He's used to the boxing speed and the boxing movements and things like that. We're different. Sometimes different can be good. What's wrong with giving him a different look? Of course, it's a tall tree to climb, but we saw what happened the last time I was the underdog."

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