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LAS VEGAS – Justin Gamber is long past the time he was concerned about the “glorified scrape” beneath Caleb Plant’s right eye.
Plant’s trainer was worried in the immediate aftermath of his press conference brawl with Canelo Alvarez that the wound would cause a postponement of their fight. Gamber couldn’t help but be concerned when he saw his boxer bleeding on the stage September 21 in Beverly Hills, California.
Soon thereafter, though, Gamber determined that the scrape his fighter suffered wouldn’t prohibit him from preparing properly for the biggest fight of his career. Plant didn’t miss a single sparring session due to that deep scratch and told reporters this week that it wasn’t an issue at all while he trained to battle Alvarez in their 12-round, 168-pound title unification fight Saturday night at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
The scar tissue is still noticeable below Plant’s right eye, but Gamber doesn’t think it’ll become problematic during their Showtime Pay-Per-View main event.
“It’d be surprised if it opened,” Gamber told BoxingScene.com. “But if it opened, I wouldn’t be concerned because of where it is.”
If Plant’s cut were above his eye, Gamber would be more concerned about it potentially opening and impacting the outcome of a fight Alvarez is consistently listed as at least a 10-1 favorite to win.
“I was a little nervous at first,” Gamber said. “I didn’t know how it was gonna play out and I didn’t know the severity of it. And luckily it was so superficial, and it was in a good spot for us to happen. If it does happen, which I don’t expect it to because it was really a glorified scratch, but if it did open up, where is it going? It’s not going from top down. It’s going from [under his eye] down and we don’t have anything to worry about there. Just because he’s bleeding doesn’t mean it’s a thing, that we have any problems.
“Now, if he’s bleeding above the eye, down, and it’s affecting his vision, then it’s a different story. So, it’s not anything that I’m concerned about. And two days later I believe he sparred. He sparred twice the week after it happened. If that doesn’t give you confidence, that it didn’t get messed up, with it being that fresh, you’re probably not gonna think about it too much after. And I haven’t.”
Plant, 29, and Alvarez, 31, will headline Showtime’s four-fight pay-per-view show, which is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. EDT/6 p.m. PDT ($79.99). Unless their fight results in a draw or a no-contest, Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 KOs), of Guadalajara, Mexico, or Plant (21-0, 12 KOs), of Ashland City, Tennessee, will become just the sixth fully unified champion in any division during boxing’s four-belt era.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.