Last night was a great night for combat sports fans, starting with a titanic clash between two of boxing’s heralded champions followed by a much anticipated rematch between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington in the UFC.
By the time the first of these premier events was securely in the belt, fight fans were on cloud nine. The IBF title holder and undefeated Caleb Plant came in game, and appeared to employ an effective shoulder roll defense against the juggernaut they call Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
Well, at least it was effective for ten rounds. In the eleventh, Canelo had the measure of his opponent and decided to settle the matter. As is becoming habit for those daring enough to step into the ring with the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, Plant eventually bent the knee before his liege.
Watch Canelo literally running after Plant to blast him out of there. Just brutal.
All hail the king 👑@Canelo TKO’s Caleb Plant in the 11th round 😳#CaneloPlant pic.twitter.com/y5mXvWafr7
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) November 7, 2021
Following that exhibit of pugilistic perfection, it was time for the UFC grudge match. The UFC welterweight titlist Usman once again bested his arch-nemesis in a back and forth affair that went the five-round distance, and may have been even better than the first time two met in the octagon in 2019. The Daily Caller’s own, David Hookstead, breaks it down here in more detail.
In the post-fight, the champ Usman said he wanted to challenge himself by fighting Canelo in a boxing match. UFC President Dana White didn’t mince any words pointing out how absurd that would be when he responded plainly to his victorious headliner, “You don’t want to fight Canelo.” (Related: ‘This Is A Free Country’: Dana White Doubles Down On His Promise Not To Force Fighters To Get Vaccinated)
🗣 “I want to challenge myself”
After successfully defending his title at UFC 268, Kamaru Usman says that he now wants to face Canelo Alvarez in the boxing ring, but Dana White isn’t so sure after watching Canelo’s win over Caleb Plant…
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) November 7, 2021
And the real question is, who does? Alvarez is now the undisputed super-middleweight champion of the world. No highly regarded boxing contender (or perhaps we should say pretender) will sign up to step into the boxing ring with this guy for a very long time after this display of fury. He might as well retire and run for president of Mexico.