Alvarez, Plant come to blows Tuesday before press conference

Turns out Canelo Alvarez and Caleb Plant don’t need boxing gloves or a ring to fight.

They came to blows Tuesday in Los Angeles before the first press conference promoting their Nov. 6 bout at MGM Grand Garden for the undisputed super middleweight championship.

The two faced off in front of the podium and traded barbs and expletives, prompting Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 knockouts) to shove Plant (21-0, 12 KOs). Plant fired a left hand that Alvarez slipped and countered with a short left, opening a cut under Plant’s right eye.

The champions were separated shortly thereafter, delaying the start of the press conference while building the tension that will likely drive the remainder of the promotion.

“He (swung) first,” Alvarez said outside the Beverly Hilton. “And I do what I do.”

Plant has repeatedly called Alvarez a cheater and hearkened back to a six-month suspension the Mexican superstar was issued by the Nevada State Athletic Commission in 2018 after testing positive for the banned substance Clenbuterol.

Alvarez insisted the positive test was a byproduct of contaminated meat that he consumed in his hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico. He returned later that year to secure a signature victory over middleweight stalwart Gennady Golovkin and has since unified the WBC, WBA and WBO super middleweight titles.

Plant holds the IBF crown and began publicly questioning Alvarez on Sept. 2, two days after ESPN reported WBC junior lightweight champion Oscar Valdez — who works with Alvarez’s trainer, Eddy Reynoso — tested positive for a banned substance before his Sept. 9 fight against Robson Conceicao.

He tagged Alvarez and Reynoso on Twitter, calling them “(Expletive) of the year” and “suspect” regarding the positive tests with which they were associated. The comments set the stage for the scene on Tuesday, and more expletives were exchanged along with more accusations.

“(Expletive) you,” the 29-year-old Plant yelled Tuesday at Alvarez after hurling an insult at Reynoso “And you’re a drug cheat.”

“Don’t make excuses before the fight,” Alvarez, 31, said in response. “Say whatever you say, see you November 6.”

The winner Nov. 6 will be crowned the first undisputed middleweight champion in boxing’s four-belt era. Alvarez won the WBA and WBC crowns from Callum Smith last December via unanimous decision and added the WBO strap in May with an eighth-round stoppage of Billy Joe Saunders. Plant claimed the IBF crown in January of 2019 via unanimous decision over Jose Uzcategui.

The fight is being produced by Premier Boxing Champions and will air on Showtime pay-per-view. Tickets went on sale last week.

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