LAS VEGAS – The much-discussed scratch beneath Caleb Plant’s right eye didn’t hurt his preparation in any way during the six weeks following his scuffle with Canelo Alvarez at their initial press conference.

Plant informed a small group of reporters following his “grand arrival” Tuesday at MGM Grand that much more was made of that scrape than necessary. The punch Alvarez landed with his left hand pushed Plant’s sunglasses into his cheek and caused a scratch that initially looked worse than it was.

The unbeaten Plant revealed Tuesday that he didn’t miss a single day of sparring once he returned to City Boxing Gym in Las Vegas the day after their press conference September 21 in Beverly Hills, California.

“The press conference was on [a Tuesday],” said Plant, who will battle Alvarez in a super middleweight title unification fight Saturday night at MGM Grand Garden Arena. “We sparred [two days later] on Thursday, we sparred on that Saturday. I mean, there hasn’t been any issues at all. Like I said, just a scratch. I had my sunglasses on. Whosever bright idea it was to have it outside, with the sun right in our face, you know, appreciate that. So, I wanted to keep my glasses on for the [press conference], but then they kinda just pushed up and, you know, made a scratch.”

What quickly escalated into a violent physical confrontation started in normal promotional fashion, with Alvarez and Plant face-to-face on a stage, talking trash. As their verbal battle intensified, Alvarez pushed Plant, whose hands were behind his back, backward by shoving him hard with two hands.

Plant promptly came back at Alvarez and grazed Alvarez with an open-handed slap to his face. Alvarez rapidly fired back with a left hand and a right hand before they were pulled apart by numerous people involved in the promotion.

Plant has repeatedly disputed Alvarez’s version of what instigated their tussle outside of The Beverly Hilton. Plant stated since the immediate aftermath of their skirmish that he was not insulting the Mexican icon’s mother when he referred to Alvarez as a “motherf-----.”

Despite that they uttered what appeared to be nothing beyond normal boxing trash talk, Plant wasn’t taken aback when Alvarez forcefully shoved him with two hands across the stage.

“I mean, I wasn’t too surprised,” Plant said. “I really don’t like think one way or another. It’s boxing. I mean, that’s happened. How many times has that happened before us? How many times is that gonna happen after us? So, I mean, I think people make such a big deal out of that because it’s like a headline and a way for you guys to promote whatever videos y’all are makin’ or, you know, whatever for the fight or whatever. But, I mean, it’s just like he pushed me, I got one on him, he got one on me, and that was it. I’ve been in worse scuffles than that. I’m sure most of us in this room have. So, what’s the big deal, really?”

Alvarez, 31, and Plant, 29, will headline a Showtime Pay-Per-View telecast from MGM Grand Garden Arena ($79.99; 9 p.m. EDT). Caesars Sportsbook lists Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 KOs), of Guadalajara, Mexico, as a 9-1 favorite to top Plant (21-0, 12 KOs), of Ashland City, Tennessee, in their 12-round fight for Alvarez’s WBA, WBC and WBO titles and Plant’s IBF belt.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.