“I went into his changing room before the fight and said “good luck.” Then he just said who’s next” – These are the words of gallant promoter Eddie Hearn, when he saw Saul Canelo Alvarez moments before the latter delivered a knockout performance against Billy Joe Saunders in Arlington, Texas on May 8.

The Mexican’s words to Hearn, that night, sum up his form, state of mind and insatiable quest to cut off every possible threat to sealing his legacy in the pugilistic sport.

Canelo’s punch power is evident in how his bout against Saunders ended. And away from that, he has given yet another body of proof that he is, indeed, the king of the super middleweight division.

The well-rounded performance against the then undefeated Brit, was also a message that anybody who wants to overcome the Mexican has a lot of work to do. The broken facial bone sustained by Saunders, though unfortunate, is enough of a warning signal to potential opponents that the 30-year-old Mexican means business and will stop at nothing to establish his greatness in sport.

Canelo’s counter punching was one to adore and he flew in the stinging uppercuts when it was necessary. Of course it got him the results – further neutralizing Saunders.

His technique has proven effective throughout the period and still has the Floyd Mayweather Jnr blunder of 2013, hanging on his otherwise clean record. His exploits in recent years give enough proof that the Mexican learnt his lessons from that loss.

And in the eighth which became the final round of an initially scheduled 12, Canelo gestured to encourage more cheers from the over 70,000 fans as he stalked Saunders around the ring. So he got the job done and brought fans at the Arlington Stadium in Texas along with him in massive deafening cheers. Who’s next?.

Is Caleb Plant the most probable?

All arrows now point to undefeated Caleb ‘Sweetlands’ Plant, who holds the IBF belt. The 28-year old plant has been the champion since January 2019 when he saw off the interim champion Jose Uzcategui of Venezuela.

Plant’s seven-year career has seen its well calculated upward trajectory working his record up to (21-0, 12kos).

Following his 2014 debut, Plant tested his skill for almost two years with like opponents before stepping up to the relatively more-experienced Zoltan Sera. He also fought the likes of Thomas Awinbono, a former West African welterweight champion from Ghana who sparred with the legendary Ike ‘Bazooka’ Quartey.

Plant also overcame Mexican Rogelio Merdina who previously held the WBC silver super middleweight belt.

Clearly, his painstaking preparation towards the big day was a good one which was brought to bear on the big day- stopping then undefeated contender Mike Lee in the third round to win the IBF belt.    

As the situation stands, the number two and three contender positions on the IBF rankings are unoccupied and this could prompt an earlier meeting between himself and  Canelo and Plant.

Of course the boxing world is now focusing on the heavyweight unification between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua which is now confirmed by promoter Eddie Hearn for either August 7 or 14 in Saudi Arabia.

Once that is cleared from the calendar, all attention will be on the Mexican King.   

Other Options

Canelo will have the luxury of choosing his next opponent between number one and 15th as stated by the rules for his voluntary defense.  

David Benavidez who annexed the WBC title for the first time in 2017, is the number one contender with the WBC and second on the WBA. Coincidentally, the American holds a clean record of 24 wins at age 24. He could be up for that big date depending on how negotiations go.

David Lemieux, who is another option, fills the number two position on the WBC log and is third on both the WBA and WBO. The Canadian has experience as a major -strength with an amassed 42 wins and four losses. In 2015, the 32-year-old orthodox boxer lost an opportunity to become the unified champion after losing to Gennady Golovkin, who then had all the four major titles.

Aidos Yerbossynuly from Kazakhstan could also be considered as he is first on WBA, tenth on WBC and fourth on IBF and WBO. At 29, and with his 66.7% knockout ratio, and clean record of 15 wins, Yerbossynuly is more than a worthy opponent.

In December 2020, he recorded a third round TKO win against Ghana’s 2008 Olympian, Issah Samir to keep his status. With the WBC Asian, WBA international, and WBO global super middleweight titles, he is guaranteed good spots on the logs to put him up for such big days.

For now 56 wins and one loss with 38 KOs out of his wins. He will recuperate, enjoy time with family and then get back probably after summer.