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Caleb Plant took care of the business to defend his IBF super middleweight title by dominating Caleb Truax. He is now aiming for bigger and better things.
Like becoming the undisputed super middleweight champion of the world.
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“That’s my goal,” said Plant (21-0, 12 KOs). “I want to be the undisputed first super middleweight champion. It doesn’t matter who he is against. Line them up and I’ll knock them down.”
The fight headlined a “PBC on Fox” card from the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles on Saturday night. It was Plant’s first fight since a 10th round stoppage by Vincent Feigenbutz last February.
The plant started off quickly, popping the jab and landing on the body. A short hook halfway through the first round knocked out Truax. It was obvious that the speed of “Sweethands” would present a huge problem for the challenger. With Plant setting the pace, it didn’t take long for Truax to realize that surviving would be his only victory that night, and just a moral victory at that.
Truax tried to force his way inside but couldn’t disrupt Plant’s pace.
A short left uppercut by Plant in the fourth round led to a streak in which the champion was seemingly unable to miss with a punch. Plant continued to rack up the penalty but was unable to clear his opponent.
By the sixth round, Truax’s face was a bloody mess, but its durability allowed him to hang around and continue to absorb the punishment. Truax landed a hard forehand in the eighth, but lacked any semblance of consistency that could have taken this fight away from the glorified fight match that it was.
In the end, Plant won in a clean sweep; the judges all scored 120-108. But it was not the stop he wanted.
Much of the blame for this has gone to an injury he believes he suffered in the middle of the laps.
“I wanted the stop,” Plant said before revealing a possible broken hand. “I’m disappointed that I didn’t understand it but my hand was injured in the middle.”
With WBA (Super), WBC and 168-pound Ring Champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez already having his next two fights lined up, it may be some time before Plant has a chance to unify. Until then, he’ll be looking to keep busy and wait for his chance.
“I am ready for those they put in front of me,” he said.
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