Caleb Plant at ease ahead of mega fight vs. Canelo Alvarez

IBF super middleweight champion Caleb Plant draped his right arm around his father, Richie, on Tuesday afternoon inside the bowels of MGM Grand Garden.

After the grand arrivals. After posing for pictures. After the elder Plant put into perspective the importance of Saturday night.

“It’s what we’ve worked for since he was a little boy,” said the family patriarch, who doubles as one of Plant’s trainers. “We deserve it. We’ve done what we’ve needed to do to get in this position. … Any of the fights that we’ve had up to this point, if we would lost any of those fights, we wouldn’t be sitting here.”

But here Plant is. Undefeated and undeterred. With an opportunity to make history by upending the world’s greatest boxer. He’ll fight four-weight world champion Canelo Alvarez on Saturday for the undisputed 168-pound championship.

Never before in the four-belt era has someone unified the super middleweight division. But Plant is relaxed and at ease as he prepares for the most consequential fight of his career. His title is on the line — as are Alvarez’s WBC, WBO and WBA super middleweight crowns.

“You haven’t seen the best Caleb Plant. You’ve seen some good performances out of me, but you’ve yet to see the best of me,” said the 29-year old Nashville area native, who lives in Las Vegas.

“All great fighters have been in this position where they’re the underdog. They’re expected to lose, and they go in there, they do the job they’re supposed to do and then they become the big dog. This has happened many times before in boxing. This is my moment.”

Plant (21-0, 12 knockouts) isn’t one for boorish bravado. There isn’t anything theatrical about the way he’s approached the promotion. He speaks with a sense of calm. Of confidence. One steeled by adversity in and out of the ring.

He’s lost a child. Lost his mother. But never his drive or sense of purpose.

“This is not just a job. Boxing is my whole life,” said Plant, a former Golden Gloves champion. “That’s all we think about. That’s all we do is boxing. Anybody trying to get in the way of what I’m trying to accomplish and be remembered as once I’m not longer here, anybody trying to disrupt that, it’s personal for me … I’ve put my blood, tears and sweat into the sport.”

It’s that mentality that helped him capture his belt on Jan. 13, 2019, with a unanimous decision victory José Uzcátegui. It’s that mentality that helped him make three successful defenses, setting the stage for a showdown with Alvarez, who began his championship reign at 168 pounds last winter with a decision over Callum Smith.

With that said, Plant hasn’t altered his approach with Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 KOs) looming. This particular training camp, he insinuated, was just as intense as every other one he’s participated in.

“You don’t become a world champion by training like a world champion — after you win a belt. If you want to become a world champion, long before that you’ve got to walk like one, talk like one, train like one, carry yourself like one. And that means training as hard as you can for every fight.”

Plant is a champion and talks like he’s already the undisputed champion, speaking matter-of-factly about what he believes his fate is going to be Saturday night. He hasn’t revealed his game plan, but believes he has the requisite tools to subdue a fighter of Alvarez’s caliber.

He’s taller than Alvarez and longer, too. Equipped with fleet feet, a sharp jab, an arsenal of combinations and “he has this,” said Plant’s head trainer, Justin Gamber, while pointing to his heart.

“People go through things in life where they put a certain amount of work in or a certain amount of time, and eventually, you just feel indestructible at what you do,” Plant said. “That’s the point where I’m at in my life. I feel like I can conquer anything and everything.”

Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.