All hail the king: Canelo basks in historic achievement as first undisputed super middleweight champion

Canelo
etched
his
name
in
the
history
books
courtesy
of
his
brutal
11th-round
knockout
of
previously
unbeaten
IBF
champion
Plant
in
their
blockbuster
unification
showdown
in
Las
Vegas
on
Saturday
(November
6).

The
aggressor,
Canelo
sniffed
blood
in
the
penultimate
round
after
flooring
Plant
(21-1)
and
the
Mexican
superstar
hunted
down
his
opponent
before
landing
the
killer
blow
to
sweep
the
division
with
his
WBA,
WBC
and
WBO
belts,
plus
the
IBF
crown.

Canelo,
31,
is
the
first
Mexican
to
achieve
the
feat
and
sixth
fighter
since
the
WBO
began
sanctioning
world
title
bouts
in
1988
to
hold
all
four
boxing
belts.

All
hail
the
king…#CaneloPlant
pic.twitter.com/YRWmxS7sqC

—
DAZN
Boxing
(@DAZNBoxing)

November
7,
2021

“It
signifies
so
much
in
the
history
of
Mexico
to
be
an
undisputed
champion,”
Canelo
said
post-fight
after
improving
his
professional
record
to
57-1-2.

“There’s
only
six.
It
keeps
me
happy,
very
motivated
to
be
one
of
six
undisputed
champions
of
the
world.”

“It
hasn’t
been
easy
to
get
to
this
point,
but
with
your
support,
my
family,
my
team,
we’ve
gotten
really
far,”
Canelo
said.

“This
is
for
everybody,
especially
for
Mexico.”

Canelo
added:
“He
was
making
things
a
little
difficult,
but
[trainer]
Eddy
[Reynoso]
told
me,
‘Let’s
keep
with
the
game
plan
in
the
last
two
rounds
here.

“And
in
the
end,
I
got
him.
That’s
the
way
it
had
to
finish.
He
was
already
hurt,
and
I
went
in
for
the
kill.”

????????????#CaneloPlant
pic.twitter.com/nqHl5EtW3f

—
DAZN
Boxing
(@DAZNBoxing)

November
7,
2021

There
was
plenty
of
tension
heading
into
the
highly
anticipated
clash
at
MGM
Grand
after
the
pair
were
involved
in
a
physical
altercation
during
September’s
news
conference.

Canelo
and
Plant
were
more
civil
in
the
week
leading
up
to
the
fight,
and
the
duo
shared
a
warm
embrace
at
the
conclusion
of
their
contest.

“My
respect
to
Caleb
Plant,”
said
Canelo.
“He’s
a
very
difficult
fighter
with
a
lot
of
ability.
I
do
respect
the
fighter.

“We’re
men
at
the
end.
He
wanted
to
continue.
I
said,
‘There’s
no
shame.
We
had
a
great
fight
today’.”