Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Deontay Wilder and Robert Helenius on Friday weighed in at 214½ and 253¼, respectively, for their pay-per-view heavyweight fight Saturday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Also, Caleb Plant and Anthony Dirrell made weight for their super middleweight bout. Plant weighed 167¼, Dirrell 167¾. The division limit is 168.
Here are images from the weigh-in. All photos by Timothy A. Clary of AFP via Getty Images.
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Deontay Wilder weighs in at a trim 214½, Robert Helenius at a hefty 253¼ for their pay-per-view fight Saturday in Brooklyn.
Deontay Wilder evidently decided that added weight isn’t going to help him in the ring.
The former heavyweight titleholder weighed in at 214½ pounds for his pay-per-view fight against veteran Robert Helenius on Saturday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
That’s Wilder’s lowest weight since his first fight against Tyson Fury in 2018, when he weighed in at 212½. The 6-foot-7 Alabaman weighed a career high 238 for his third meeting with Fury a year ago, a fight he lost by 11th-round knockout.
Helenius weighed in at 253¼, the most he has weighed since he came in at 262¼ when he fought Ganzalo Omar Bazile in 2016. Helenius weighed 246 for his second a fight with Adam Kownacki, a sixth-round knockout on the Wilder-Fury card a year ago.
In another featured bout on Saturday’s card, former titleholders Caleb Plant and Anthony Dirrell made weight for their super middleweight titleholder eliminator. Plant weighed 167¼, Dirrell 167¾. The division limit is 168.
Also, Frank Sanchez and Carlos Negron weighed 247¾ and 244½, respectively, for their heavyweight fight.
And bantamweights Gary Antonio Russell and Emmanuel Rodriguez weighed 116½ and 117¾. The division limit is 118.
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Deontay Wilder weighs in at a trim 214½, Robert Helenius at a hefty 253¼ for their pay-per-view fight Saturday in Brooklyn.
Deontay Wilder evidently decided that added weight isn’t going to help him in the ring.
The former heavyweight titleholder weighed in at 214½ pounds for his pay-per-view fight against veteran Robert Helenius on Saturday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
That’s Wilder’s lowest weight since his first fight against Tyson Fury in 2018, when he weighed in at 212½. The 6-foot-7 Alabaman weighed a career high 238 for his third meeting with Fury a year ago, a fight he lost by 11th-round knockout.
Helenius weighed in at 253¼, the most he has weighed since he came in at 262¼ when he fought Ganzalo Omar Bazile in 2016. Helenius weighed 246 for his second a fight with Adam Kownacki, a sixth-round knockout on the Wilder-Fury card a year ago.
In another featured bout on Saturday’s card, former titleholders Caleb Plant and Anthony Dirrell made weight for their super middleweight titleholder eliminator. Plant weighed 167¼, Dirrell 167¾. The division limit is 168.
Also, Frank Sanchez and Carlos Negron weighed 247¾ and 244½, respectively, for their heavyweight fight.
And bantamweights Gary Antonio Russell and Emmanuel Rodriguez weighed 116½ and 117¾. The division limit is 118.
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Deontay Wilder vs. Robert Helenius: date, time, how to watch, background.
Former heavyweight titleholder Deontay Wilder returns to the ring against veteran Robert Helenius on pay-per-view Saturday in Brooklyn, New York.
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Deontay Wilder vs. Robert Helenius: date, time, how to watch, background.
Former heavyweight titleholder Deontay Wilder returns to the ring against veteran Robert Helenius on pay-per-view Saturday in Brooklyn, New York.
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Caleb Plant won’t allow one disappointing setback against Canelo Alvarez to dash his dreams.
Caleb Plant has never let life’s challenges knock him off course for long. He doesn’t intend to start now.
The 30-year-old super middleweight contender was stopped in the 11th round by Canelo Alvarez last November, his first career setback. He acknowledges the disappointment of losing his biggest fight and his precious IBF title. Who wouldn’t struggle with that?
The key for him was to learn from it and move forward, without adjusting his goals. He still plans to gain recognition as a special fighter.
“It obviously was difficult,” Plant told Boxing Junkie a week before his comeback fight against Anthony Dirrell on the Deontay Wilder-Robert Helenius pay-per-view card Saturday in Brooklyn, New York.
“I’m a winner, whether that’s been in the ring or outside the ring. I feel like I’m a winner. I feel like anything that’s been tossed my way is something I’ve been able to overcome. …
“I feel some [of Alvarez’s] past opponents have showed up for the check. I didn’t do that. I was there to win. That didn’t happen, so it was disappointing. That being said, I’m not one to sit around and feel sorry for myself.
“I took a small break then I got right back to work with my team.”
Besides, Plant (21-1, 12 KOs) said, he gave a good account of him.
The Las Vegas-based Tennessean was behind on all three official cards after 10 rounds – 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94 – before Alvarez hurt him with a left hook-right uppercut combination and then finished him off. However, Plant, an excellent boxer and athlete, was competitive until the end. That can’t be said of many Alvarez opponents.
That’s something on which he can build in an effort to realize his full potential.
“If that the highest level of boxing, I feel I’m that close from it,” said Plant, holding his thumb and pointer a centimeter apart. “I got caught with a good shot at the end but until then I thought I was doing really, really good. [That’s] not just myself, but from the rest of the fans … from what I’ve seen them say.
“I want to just continue to smooth the edges of my game, to try to make it a complete game.”
Plant (21-1, 12 KOs) is anything but complacent in spite of his recent success.
He made a reported $10 million for the fight with Alvarez, which is 140 times as much as the average American earns in a year. He acknowledged that the event was “good to me” in that sense. However, he said, “That doesn’t do it for me.”
And the fact he already realized the dream shared by all fighters – which was the win a world title – makes him no less hungry than he was before he became champion. He’s thinking much bigger than that.
“Becoming a world champion. as rare as that is, was A dream, not THE dream,” he said. “THE dream is to be solidified as one of greatest of my generation and go down as one of greats of boxing. … Just becoming a world champion isn’t going to do that.
“There’s no one specific thing that I’m going to do other than just continue to be the best possible version of myself, to continue to get big fights, win big fights, to become a two-time world champion and continue on to become unified champion and undisputed.
“Those are still my dreams, still my goals.”
There’s one more objective: A second shot at Alvarez.
“We all have long term and short term goals,” Plant said. “My main goal, so close to this fight, is to focus on the fight in front of me. … It’s hard to say what the road will look like but it would be to do whatever I need to to get a rematch with Canelo, then pick off one top super middleweight at a time. That’s what I want.”
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Caleb Plant won’t allow one disappointing setback against Canelo Alvarez to dash his dreams.
Caleb Plant has never let life’s challenges knock him off course for long. He doesn’t intend to start now.
The 30-year-old super middleweight contender was stopped in the 11th round by Canelo Alvarez last November, his first career setback. He acknowledges the disappointment of losing his biggest fight and his precious IBF title. Who wouldn’t struggle with that?
The key for him was to learn from it and move forward, without adjusting his goals. He still plans to gain recognition as a special fighter.
“It obviously was difficult,” Plant told Boxing Junkie a week before his comeback fight against Anthony Dirrell on the Deontay Wilder-Robert Helenius pay-per-view card Saturday in Brooklyn, New York.
“I’m a winner, whether that’s been in the ring or outside the ring. I feel like I’m a winner. I feel like anything that’s been tossed my way is something I’ve been able to overcome. …
“I feel some [of Alvarez’s] past opponents have showed up for the check. I didn’t do that. I was there to win. That didn’t happen, so it was disappointing. That being said, I’m not one to sit around and feel sorry for myself.
“I took a small break then I got right back to work with my team.”
Besides, Plant (21-1, 12 KOs) said, he gave a good account of him.
The Las Vegas-based Tennessean was behind on all three official cards after 10 rounds – 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94 – before Alvarez hurt him with a left hook-right uppercut combination and then finished him off. However, Plant, an excellent boxer and athlete, was competitive until the end. That can’t be said of many Alvarez opponents.
That’s something on which he can build in an effort to realize his full potential.
“If that the highest level of boxing, I feel I’m that close from it,” said Plant, holding his thumb and pointer a centimeter apart. “I got caught with a good shot at the end but until then I thought I was doing really, really good. [That’s] not just myself, but from the rest of the fans … from what I’ve seen them say.
“I want to just continue to smooth the edges of my game, to try to make it a complete game.”
Plant (21-1, 12 KOs) is anything but complacent in spite of his recent success.
He made a reported $10 million for the fight with Alvarez, which is 140 times as much as the average American earns in a year. He acknowledged that the event was “good to me” in that sense. However, he said, “That doesn’t do it for me.”
And the fact he already realized the dream shared by all fighters – which was the win a world title – makes him no less hungry than he was before he became champion. He’s thinking much bigger than that.
“Becoming a world champion. as rare as that is, was A dream, not THE dream,” he said. “THE dream is to be solidified as one of greatest of my generation and go down as one of greats of boxing. … Just becoming a world champion isn’t going to do that.
“There’s no one specific thing that I’m going to do other than just continue to be the best possible version of myself, to continue to get big fights, win big fights, to become a two-time world champion and continue on to become unified champion and undisputed.
“Those are still my dreams, still my goals.”
There’s one more objective: A second shot at Alvarez.
“We all have long term and short term goals,” Plant said. “My main goal, so close to this fight, is to focus on the fight in front of me. … It’s hard to say what the road will look like but it would be to do whatever I need to to get a rematch with Canelo, then pick off one top super middleweight at a time. That’s what I want.”
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Caleb Plant is primed for his comeback fight against Anthony Dirrell on Oct. 15 in Brooklyn, New York.
Caleb Plant evidently hasn’t loss his confidence.
The last time we saw him in the ring he came up short against pound-for-pounder Canelo Alvarez, who stopped the Tennessean in the 11th round to become undisputed super middleweight champion last November in Las Vegas.
Plant returns against veteran Anthony Dirrell on the Deontay Wilder-Robert Helenius card Oct. 15 in Brooklyn and predicts things won’t go well for the former titleholder.
“He’s retiring after this,” Plant said during a virtual news conference. “He’s done. I’m going to beat him in such a way that he won’t want to be part of this anymore.”
Plant (21-1, 12 KOs) had been riding high before the fight with Alvarez, having made three successful defenses of the IBF 168-pound title he won by outpointing Jose Uzcategui in 2019.
And he acquitted himself reasonably well against the Mexican star before he grew weary and got caught with a left-right combination that put him down and hurt him in the penultimate round. He got up but quickly went down again, which ended his night.
Plant looks back on the setback as a lesson learned.
“The biggest thing I took from the Canelo Alvarez fight is the experience in general,” he said. “Experience isn’t something you can buy. You have to go through it to get it. Obviously I came up short and there’s no excuses there.
“I got right back with my team and went back to work.”
He certainly didn’t choose a pushover for his comeback opponent.
Dirrell (34-2-2, 25 KOs) is 37 and only 1-1-1 in his last three fights but remains capable. He was competitive against David Benavidez before falling victim to a horrible cut and Benavidez’s big shots in the ninth round in 2019, which cost him his belt.
He then drew with slick Kyrone Davis in February of last year before stopping journeyman Marcos Hernandez in four rounds eight-plus months later.
Plant insists he isn’t look past Dirrell but also took some shots at him.
“He’s never had one successful title defense,” he said. “He knocked out a blown-up middleweight (Hernandez) in his last fight. We’re not even in the same galaxy as that guy he fought. The list goes on and on. …
“He says what he wants, but when is the last time he beat a true super middleweight?”
Whatever Dirrell brings, Plant says he’ll be ready for it.
He said he has had excellent sparring in training camp, against Carlos Adames, Shane Mosley Jr., Davis and others. And he has had respected trainer Stephen Edwards in camp, which he says has bolstered his preparation.
He plans to demonstrate that on Oct. 15.
“I’m only focused on the task at hand and the fight in front of me,” he said. “Just because I know that I’m going to beat him, doesn’t mean that I’m looking past him.
“The only way to get to your long term goals is by accomplishing your short term ones.”
Caleb Plant is primed for his comeback fight against Anthony Dirrell on Oct. 15 in Brooklyn, New York.
Caleb Plant evidently hasn’t loss his confidence.
The last time we saw him in the ring he came up short against pound-for-pounder Canelo Alvarez, who stopped the Tennessean in the 11th round to become undisputed super middleweight champion last November in Las Vegas.
Plant returns against veteran Anthony Dirrell on the Deontay Wilder-Robert Helenius card Oct. 15 in Brooklyn and predicts things won’t go well for the former titleholder.
“He’s retiring after this,” Plant said during a virtual news conference. “He’s done. I’m going to beat him in such a way that he won’t want to be part of this anymore.”
Plant (21-1, 12 KOs) had been riding high before the fight with Alvarez, having made three successful defenses of the IBF 168-pound title he won by outpointing Jose Uzcategui in 2019.
And he acquitted himself reasonably well against the Mexican star before he grew weary and got caught with a left-right combination that put him down and hurt him in the penultimate round. He got up but quickly went down again, which ended his night.
Plant looks back on the setback as a lesson learned.
“The biggest thing I took from the Canelo Alvarez fight is the experience in general,” he said. “Experience isn’t something you can buy. You have to go through it to get it. Obviously I came up short and there’s no excuses there.
“I got right back with my team and went back to work.”
He certainly didn’t choose a pushover for his comeback opponent.
Dirrell (34-2-2, 25 KOs) is 37 and only 1-1-1 in his last three fights but remains capable. He was competitive against David Benavidez before falling victim to a horrible cut and Benavidez’s big shots in the ninth round in 2019, which cost him his belt.
He then drew with slick Kyrone Davis in February of last year before stopping journeyman Marcos Hernandez in four rounds eight-plus months later.
Plant insists he isn’t look past Dirrell but also took some shots at him.
“He’s never had one successful title defense,” he said. “He knocked out a blown-up middleweight (Hernandez) in his last fight. We’re not even in the same galaxy as that guy he fought. The list goes on and on. …
“He says what he wants, but when is the last time he beat a true super middleweight?”
Whatever Dirrell brings, Plant says he’ll be ready for it.
He said he has had excellent sparring in training camp, against Carlos Adames, Shane Mosley Jr., Davis and others. And he has had respected trainer Stephen Edwards in camp, which he says has bolstered his preparation.
He plans to demonstrate that on Oct. 15.
“I’m only focused on the task at hand and the fight in front of me,” he said. “Just because I know that I’m going to beat him, doesn’t mean that I’m looking past him.
“The only way to get to your long term goals is by accomplishing your short term ones.”
A critical look at the past week in boxing GOOD We can use different criteria to illustrate the magnitude of Canelo Alvarez’s accomplishments. The Mexican star has won major titles in four divisions, which is a standard barometer of greatness. It’s …
GOOD
We can use different criteria to illustrate the magnitude of Canelo Alvarez’s accomplishments.
The Mexican star has won major titles in four divisions, which is a standard barometer of greatness. It’s not my favorite, though. Alphabet titles mean little when there are almost 100 of them. And it seems everyone is a multiple-division beltholder these days.
Alvarez became the first undisputed super middleweight champion and sixth male undisputed champ in any division in the four-belt era by stopping Caleb Plant in the 11th round Saturday in Las Vegas.
That’s a heady accomplishment given how rare it is. And in our dreams there would be only one champion in each division, as there once was. This is as close as we’re going to get to that.
“Undisputed” has its limitations, too, though. It’s based on the whims of the sanctioning bodies, who generally rank fighters in manner that benefits them the most in terms of the bottom line. Merit isn’t always the primary factor.
The best approach to appreciate the accomplishments of Alvarez is to simply consider his opponents and the fact he has beaten them consistently.
He has taken down one highly rated foe after another over the past decade, rarely opting for stay-busy or transitional fight against pushovers. That’s what Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquaio did on the road to greatness.
Shane Mosley, Austin Trout, Erislandy Lara, Miguel Cotto, Gennadiy Golovkin, Daniel Jacobs and Sergey Kovalev might be the best of Alvarez’s victims but the list is a lot longer than that. He has by far the best resume in boxing today.
Alvarez failed to have his hand raised only four times, a draw against long-forgotten Jorge Juarez in his fifth fight, a one-sided decision against all-time great Mayweather and a disputed draw in his first fight against Golovkin, a future Hall of Famer.
Becoming the undisputed super middleweight champion is an achievement that should be celebrated but Alvarez has been doing special things for a long time.
***
BAD
There’s nothing “bad” about Alvarez’s victory over Plant but we should keep it in perspective.
Alvarez didn’t just defeat Roy Jones Jr. or Bernard Hopkins. He beat Plant, a good, athletic boxer who had little experience on an elite level and can’t punch, which made his mission almost impossible.
And there’s certainly nothing bad about Alvarez’s pursuit of history. He isn’t satisfied with mundane accomplishments. And there’s nothing mundane about becoming the first undisputed super middleweight champion.
However, we should keep that in perspective, too. We must take into account the fighters he beat to achieve that lofty goal: Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders and Plant, all three of whom are good, but limited fighters.
Again, I understand why Alvarez choose to fight them; He wanted to make do something that would stand out. None were much of a threat to him, though. And don’t we want the best fighters to face genuine threats as much as possible?
I would rather Alvarez have faced Gennadiy Golovkin a third time, David Benavidez and Jermall Charlo instead. He wouldn’t have become “undisputed” but he would’ve faced more-significant challenges, which is more important to me.
We must appreciate Alvarez’s general approach to selecting opponents. He has faced one ranked foe after another over the past decade. At the same time, his emphasis on collecting titles – which mean less than ever – has its drawbacks.
The good news is that he could still fight Benavidez and Charlo. Golovkin? Not likely.
***
WORSE
Plant has nothing to be ashamed of. He gave a solid performance against one of the best in the business.
The athletic Tennessean frustrated Alvarez in the first half of the fight with his elite level boxing ability, particularly his elusiveness. The winner was still trying to chase him down in the middle rounds.
Alas, Alvarez’s relentless pressure – including damaging body work — gradually broke down Plant and set up the dramatic knockout in the 11th round, a devastating fate for a proud fighter who had such big expectations.
And it wasn’t close on the cards through 10 rounds. Alvarez led 98-92 (eight rounds to two), 97-93 and 96-94. Boxing Junkie had it 98-92 for Alvarez.
A key problem for Plant was his lack of punching power. If you can’t keep Alvarez honest with hard shots (a la Gennadiy Golovkin), you have to be a boxing wizard (a la Floyd Mayweather) to beat him.
Plant is a good boxer but he’s not that good, which is why he was about an 8-1 underdog (average of multiple outlets) going into the fight.
This undoubtedly is a difficult time for Plant, who had never tasted defeat as a professional and genuinely believed he’d have his hand raised. However, the setback isn’t the end of the world for him.
Again, he lost to a truly great fighter. No shame in that. He arguably performed better than super middleweight counterparts Callum Smith and Billy Joe Saunders, which confirmed that he belonged in the ring with Alvarez.
And he isn’t the type to give up. He has overcome some personal tragedies, which tells you something about his mental toughness. He’ll bounce back from Saturday’s setback, too.
***
RABBIT PUNCHES
Rey Vargas (35-0, 22 KOs) had been away for more than two years before he fought Leonardo Baez (21-5, 12 KOs) on the Alvarez-Plant card. I had forgotten how good he is. The former 122-pound titleholder used his unusual length and ability to pick apart his fellow Mexican and win a near-shutout decision in his first fight as a full-fledged 126-pounder. Vargas is ranked No. 1 by the WBC, whose champion is Gary Russel Jr. I’d pick Russel to win that fight but Vargas would be a live underdog. He’s really good. … Anthony Dirrell (34-3-2, 26 KOs) delivered the punch of the night at the MGM Grand, a monstrous right uppercut that instantaneously destroyed Marcos Hernandez (15-5-2, 3 KOs) in the third round of their super middleweight fight. I don’t know whether the 37-year-old former two-time titleholder will get a shot at one more major belt but he made a strong case that he’s a viable option. … Junior welterweight contender Elvis Rodriguez (12-1-1, 11 KOs) bounced back from his upset loss to Kenneth Sims Jr. in May, stopping capable Juan Pablo Romero (14-1, 9 KOs) in five rounds on the Alvarez-Plant card.
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