Unbeaten IBF super middleweight world champion Caleb “Sweethands” Plant (21-0, 12 KOs) outpointed former world champion “Golden” Caleb Truax (31-5-2, 19 KOs) over twelve one-sided rounds on Saturday night at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Plant dominated the fight, but never came close to getting a stoppage. Scores were 120-108 across the board.
“I wanted the stoppage. I’m a little disappointed that my hand got hurt early in the fight. But I feel like I put on a good performance,” Plant said. “I feel like I’m the best super middleweight champion in the world. I want to become the first undisputed super middleweight champion. I’m ready for whoever, whenever. You line ‘em up and I’ll knock ‘em down.
“I felt great. I dominated every round. I hardly got touched. He wasn’t giving me much either. I felt like, early on, he was just looking to survive and move away. Then a third of the way into the fight, I hurt my hand. It’s kind of swollen. I felt something similar before. I’ve got to sit down and get it checked out but we’ll see. I don’t think it will hinder any upcoming fights.
“A champion can adjust to anything. It’s about staying focused, staying disciplined and sticking to the game plan. Maybe the injury hindered me here and there but I felt I used it well – I got a dominant victory, a shutout on all three cards.”
Plant doesn’t impress me he has no power, David Benavidez will destroy him.
Plant was doing arm punching most of the fight with limited commitment to his punches. In addition, his head movement was rather nonexistent and Truax had moments he tagged him for such a simple flaw. I figured Plant would win, but his body mechanics and style of fighting was rather disappointing in this match up. Yes, he won, but not sure that style of fighting he used will work against an upper tier fighter.
Benevidez will not get the chance. If Benevidez can get his act together he’ll have to try and build his name to fight Canelo. With no strap that’ll be extremely hard. Canelo has bigger names in front of him once he unifies. Charlo or Boo Boo moving up or Canelo going after a LH seems more probable. Serves Benevidez right for not being a professional.
Plant is definitely not a knockout artist, but he has just enough pop to make the other guy think about it, at least against his opponents to date. Not comparing Plant to Pernell Whittaker talent-wise, but I always thought the same of Whittaker. Not much of a puncher, but enough power that the other guy couldn’t just walk through him. Plant has a good arsenal of punches, good hand speed, and he’s pretty good defensively (although he has lapses from time to time). Unless Plant just absolutely freezes on the big stage, I think he’ll give Canelo problems if that fight ever takes place.
Well, now we know who the dullest champ at 168 is. What a snoozer.
Plant vs Benavidez it needs to happen!
Look Plant has no power FACT, but he schooled Truax all day with a broken hand that i have to give credit for.
Caleb Plant….typical of Al Haymon fighters. Protected protected protected. He fights bums over and over again and hopes to get a Canelo fight now. Let me see you take Benavidez next.
truax had no business getting this fight, he showed nothing,the HW fight WHAT?
Well we now know Canelo will have no problem unify the 168 pound division.
Yes, very true.
Any way to try and cheapen Canelos 168 clean out. Lol
Plant has looked really good in recent fights. Not tonight. He looked more like a house plant!
Plant does not beat Canelo in any way
Plant fought with fast hands and good combination punches against an aged, slow Truax. However, I remain at idle about Plant’s ability and composure to handle a pressure fighter who has authoritative jabs and solid body/head punches. In other words, I do not see Plant defeating a weight disciplined Benavidez.
Plant’s style, height and hand speed will give Canelo problems during the early rounds. Before getting deeper into this possible match-up, I need to first see how Canelo looks in his return fight.
A boring fight if we all expected a brawl with big punches but it was plant and not Benavidez fighting .Lets give credit where credit is due , Plant is doing what feather weights and lightweights can only pull off in the ring, speed always beats power and when you add good defense could mean that plant will be around for a while.
Overhyped with his biggest name on Plants resume being Mike “Subway Commercial” Lee. Canelo will simply walk Plant down and fold him in 7. Benavidez still has to prove he can weigh in at 168 before he should be mentioned.
Plant looked great…. against a very limited opponent.
His movement and ring IQ may give Benavidez some problems, but will probably get overpowered late in the fight….
Against Canelo, I don’t see him packing the kind of heat to keep the pressure off…. it would be a good fight (chess match) initially and then he’d get blasted.
The fact that his got weak hands, I mean “sweethands “ is gonna be a big problem. If landing hard punches hurts him more than it does his opponents, he’s really gonna suffer against world class fighters.
B O R I N G. Completely OVERRATED. Feather fisted Plant will be slaughtered by Alvarez or Benavidez. Daniel Jacobs and Anthony Dirrell KO’d Truax, Plant couldn’t even come close to doing the same. Just a very over rated paper champion
Yawn
Why all the hate? Plant broke his right hand in the 3rd round and still managed to school Truax for 12!
Plant is no power puncher but that doesn’t mean he aint worthy to fight another champ.
Mayweather didnt KO Canelo he schooled him for 12, why cant Plant do the same?>
Simple….Plant is not MAYWEATHER!!!!!
How dare you compare Plant to Mayweather. You should have your post privileges to all boxing websites for that comment.
Plant just holding Canelos belt for him
LOL, great statement
A continuation of the pbc/fox crapfests that will never draw casual fans to the sport.
This fight was about exactly what I expected: a shutout win for Plant. He’s not a huge puncher, but he has just enough pop….along with good enough defensive skills… that it will be hard for anybody to just walk right through him. I don’t think anybody in that division is a lock to beat him, including Canelo and Benavidez. Both those matchups are interesting enough that I’d like to see them.
There is no WAY, this guy ever beats Alvarez. He is nowhere near the caliber that Alvarez is, NOWHERE. If anyone thinks that he’ll have a chance you have been on the moon.
Plant did not look like his normal self tonight and that’s fine he got the w!
Benivedez won’t beat him cause he’s to slow and easy to Telegraph! Camelot would literally have to bum rush him to beat him! He has power but his defense does not allow him to sit on his punches same as mayweather! He wins and wins and that’s all they’re suppose to do! He could unify the division on skill level alone!
Plant is a sharp puncher, but is not a KO puncher. I thought he should have gone to the body a lot more. Truax can take a lot of head shots without buckling, but needs to be softened up to the body before the head shots can have any effect.
Plant rarely loses any rounds no matter who he fights. I don’t see him covering up and backing up to the ropes to let Canelo pound away at him. His biggest assets are his mobility and his varied arsenal of punches, including a great jab.
Canelo has been swinging for the fences as he rose in weight, which sometimes leaves him vulnerable for counters. Callum Smith is not mobile and depends on a left jab, a snapping left hook, and a straight right hand. Canelo took away the left hand by hitting the biceps whenever Callum covered up and stayed stationary, which was often.
It will be an interesting fight between Canelo and Plant. If Plant can keep Canelo off balance for most of the fight, he can win. He’s got the tools. The question is whether or not he can deal with the pressure of a megafight and the pressure in the ring by Canelo. Triple G used his jab to great effect in the rematch and had Canelo resetting often. I believe he won the second fight by outboxing Canelo but didn’t get the decision because Canelo is the one who fought Mexican style. I believe he won the first fight 8-4 in rounds but settled for a draw.
My favorite in the 168 lb division is Benavidez. He’s got the power and jab to beat Canelo. However, he’s not fast on his feet. I did notice that with only a few steps of his long legs, he was able to cut off the ring and reach his opponents easily.
A Canelo-Plant or Canelo-Benavidez fight would be a real treat for the fall. Let’s hope one of those matches gets made. The fans will be the winner.
Plant will get battered by Canelo and Saunders.
Did anybody else see plants left hand down the whole fight! Cant do that vs a shark like canelo!
Plant out-classed Truax , Truax was never in the fight and, I personally would like to see him fight Saunders as they both have a similiar styles… Truax shoud retire. He’s too slow and had no idea how to fight someone who has both mobility and lateral movement…
Plant looked very good against an opponent made for the occasion.. he did his job and looked “good.” If he really believes he’s the best needs to fight Benavides. The winner (which will be Benavides) fights the winner of Saunders vs Alvarez. If Canelo get Plant after Saunders he will walk thru him.
Caleb ‘House’ Plant Cannot beat Benavidez and Will not fight him!! Let’s be honest here, while he does have world class speed, foot movement and fundamentals, he doesn’t have enough power to keep the likes of Canelo, Benavidez and hell Charlo off of him!! If Canelo is desperate enough for the belt, at least Plant gets a nice lottery ticket out of it! For my money as a Boxing Fan let him fight Benavidez and Canelo fights the winner? WTF why not??!!
Setting up a historic showdown for 168 supremecy I September. Provided Canelo gets it done 2 times in that span.
Caleb did what he needed to do… get a W.
But, his fight was reminiscent of the beating that Callum Smith got vs Canelo and Truax is NOWHERE near the caliber of Callum.
Do the math…. he can look cute for a few rounds vs Canelo and/or Benavidez before he gets handled.
I give him a better chance of limited success vs Benavidez based on how Benavidez looked in his fights vs Gavril…. but Caleb’s fragile hands are gonna cost him.
Despite being shut out, Truax did better than I thought he would. Plant easily outboxed and outclassed him, but couldn’t establish any real momnentum and put Truax away. Perhaps it was because of a broken hand, which has yet to be confirmed. It looked liked a light heavweight going up against a middleweight.
Plant looked great for 3 rounds and may have gotten a stoppage if he continued at that pace but he let off the gas after 3. So i have to believe he did suffer a hand injury. Later in the fight truax was able to tag him with a few right hands.
Overall not very impressive but I don’t think we saw his best.
Man, you mother fuckers are impossible to please! Typical boxing fans. Plant did what he had to do win. And he did it in dominating fashion with a broken hand. We all know Plant isn’t a power puncher so why are we even talking about knockouts? “Plant got hit with a few right hands from Truax late in the fight”. NO SHIT!! This is boxing, of course he’s going to get hit. He looked well above average for the majority of the fight and absolutely belongs in the talk for a Canelo or Saunders fight.
You’re right….
Issue is that many fans on the forum place demands on Canelo… so if we’re using Canelo as the barometer for Super MW champs, the other guys gotta produce in similar fashion.
I will totally offer my public apology to all on this forum if Canelo carries Yildirim for 12 rounds…. being that Yildirim is of similar caliber as Truax.
Exactly! The haters don’t even realize their comments hating proves how great Canelo is. Literally every world champ is fake when Canelo might fight him.
There is no other sport where the so called fans despise the athletes as much as boxing. One loss and the fighter is “exposed”. Box smartly and the fighter is ” boring” and a “runner”. Go the distance and the fighter “has no power”. Fight any fighter and immediately get reminded of the fighters he ” is ducking”. Its impossible to please clowns who criticize the genius craft of Mayweather but bow down to Provodnikov.
Hwy man, leave Provodnikov alone, he left me with some awesome memories and was extremely entertaining!! haha
Sorry Man, there is room for all styles in boxing.. its maddening when all some people want to see is Provodnikov types.. make no bones about it, he was a badass but so is the man that beat him in his most memorable fight, Tim Bradley. All bad dudes aren’t brawlers and leather catchers. Some guys are scientific and boring, but still good. When did we stop respecting fighters because they fight smart? Ali, Hagler, Duran, Hearns, Leonard etc… all had off nights, boring fights, and tedious wins. Plant is a stylist, give him and his “type” a break.
Both the Barthelemy and Plant fights were just total mismatches but without A side fighters with the power to get the opponent out of there. Makes for pretty boring fights.
Ha! Just reading Edgar Berlanga’s twitter comment to the left calling Plant’s defense “cute”. What’s also cute is Berlanga’s level of competition nearly five years into his career. He hasn’t been fighting your made to order, there to get KO’d stiffs, but he hasn’t fought anybody remotely approaching contender status either. Plant is a lot better than people on this thread want to give him credit for, and he hits harder than people think. He ain’t exactly John “The Beast” Mugabe, but the man has some pop. I would look forward to Plant Vs Berlanga. At this point, I would favor the Plant to take over Berlangas garden. A Plant grows in Brooklyn!
Berlanga is a beast, but you are right we will see when he steps up for real,there are alot of unanswered questions about him.like chin stanma boxing skills and heart, not saying he doesn’t have all of thease.but I can’t wait to see if he does.
Plant landed at will against the rusty but sturdy Truax but never had him in trouble. Plant is possibly the best SMW but he will not be a dominating fighter and can only beat Canelo with volume and movement. Plant tired in the 8th and let Truax land 2 big sots. I doubt Plant can move up in weight as he is without KO power
I see plant as a fighter with just a very good jab,that he also keeps low,and will pay for when he fights better fighters.he doesn’t have those short punches on the inside, the nice short right followed by a short left hook, and right upper cut,followed by a left to the body or head. He needs to really get a big time trainer if he wants to get better,because his trainers now are not making him use those punches, and when you got a good jab,you should have all those punches coming behind it.lets face it super middleweight have never really had great talent. Plant got heart,and he comes in shape, but if he is going to stand a chance at canelo he needs alot more weapons. But we boxing fans know he will get his payday,and that will be the last time we see him in a big fight,but all respect to plant,he made it this far,and that I. It self is a great accomplishment.
common who wants to see this guy…..horrible!