Caleb Truax said Caleb Plant was too elusive for him in their title fight on Saturday in Los Angeles.
Caleb Truax had a simple explanation for what went wrong against super middleweight titleholder Caleb Plant on Saturday in Los Angeles: “I wasn’t able to put a glove on him.”
That’ll do it.
Plant, making the third defense of his belt, won every round on all three official cards to retain his title and possibly set up a title-unification showdown with Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez in September.
Truax, a former titleholder, was correct when he said he had difficulty landing punches. He connected on 47 of them the entire fight, less than four per round, according to CompuBox.
Truax (31-5-2, 19 KOs) had been dealing with injury problems – a torn Achilles tendon and a chronically sore elbow, to be specific – but he said going into his meeting with Plant that he was healthy.
He simply didn’t have the physical tools to cope with Plant.
“I’m a little disappointed. I wanted to put pressure on him and make it a dogfight, but he was elusive. He was able to escape out the back door. I wasn’t able to put a glove on him,” said Truax, 37.
“I knew he was going to be quick, but he was a little more elusive than I expected. It wasn’t a fast-paced fight and credit to him for that. I wanted it to be a fast-paced fight and put pressure on him, but he controlled the pace and he was very elusive.
“I was never buzzed or hurt. I felt like my conditioning was very good the whole fight. He just jabbed the heck out of me. I’m going to go home and talk to my family and see what the next step is. I still feel like I have something to offer the game.”
Caleb Truax said Caleb Plant was too elusive for him in their title fight on Saturday in Los Angeles.
Caleb Truax had a simple explanation for what went wrong against super middleweight titleholder Caleb Plant on Saturday in Los Angeles: “I wasn’t able to put a glove on him.”
That’ll do it.
Plant, making the third defense of his belt, won every round on all three official cards to retain his title and possibly set up a title-unification showdown with Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez in September.
Truax, a former titleholder, was correct when he said he had difficulty landing punches. He connected on 47 of them the entire fight, less than four per round, according to CompuBox.
Truax (31-5-2, 19 KOs) had been dealing with injury problems – a torn Achilles tendon and a chronically sore elbow, to be specific – but he said going into his meeting with Plant that he was healthy.
He simply didn’t have the physical tools to cope with Plant.
“I’m a little disappointed. I wanted to put pressure on him and make it a dogfight, but he was elusive. He was able to escape out the back door. I wasn’t able to put a glove on him,” said Truax, 37.
“I knew he was going to be quick, but he was a little more elusive than I expected. It wasn’t a fast-paced fight and credit to him for that. I wanted it to be a fast-paced fight and put pressure on him, but he controlled the pace and he was very elusive.
“I was never buzzed or hurt. I felt like my conditioning was very good the whole fight. He just jabbed the heck out of me. I’m going to go home and talk to my family and see what the next step is. I still feel like I have something to offer the game.”
Good, bad, worse: Caleb Plant is a threat to Canelo Alvarez.
A critical look at the past week in boxing
GOOD
Caleb Plant (right) found the target with regularity on Saturday. Sean Michael Ham / TGB Promotions
Canelo Alvarez would be a solid favorite to beat anyone in his weight class, including Caleb Plant.
That said, Plant’s performance against Caleb Truax on Saturday night – a shutout victory – might’ve tightened the spread to some degree. The Tennessean looked that good in a dominating victory in spite of a hand injury.
Plant has the natural gifts, quickness, reflexes and athleticism, which must’ve made him a blur to his ineffective 37-year-old opponent. He seems to have a high boxing IQ, the result of a life in the gym. And, by all accounts, he’s dedicated to his craft.
He might not be the puncher Alvarez and some others are but many fighters have risen to greatness without unusual power.
I’m not saying that Plant will ever be seen as a great fighter. It’s too early for that. His two most-significant victories are over Jose Uzcategui (to win his title) and now Truax. He must do more than that to rise to pound-for-pound status.
I AM saying that Plant seems to have the tools and work ethic to become a special fighter and perhaps give Alvarez more trouble than some will predict.
I keep thinking of Alvarez’s 2019 fight against Sergey Kovalev, a declining light heavyweight who fought the Mexican superstar on roughly even terms before he was stopped in the 11th round. The scores were 95-95, 96-94 and 96-94 for Alvarez after 10.
I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that this young, prime version of Plant – although smaller than Kovalev and not as powerful – is a better, more dynamic boxer than the Russian.
Of course, that notion could prove to be nonsense. Truax landed some solid right hands to Plant’s head, which did no damage. The natural question to ask is: What happens if Alvarez lands that punch?
Well, I presume Plant and his team will have a similar thought. And they’ll make the proper adjustments. Plant and Co. are well aware that Truax is at one level and Alvarez is another. They’ll be as ready as they can be. You can count on that.
And one more thing: Alvarez also knows that Plant is better than his last few opponents, especially after Saturday night.
***
BAD
Caleb Truax (right) survived to hear the final bell but took a beating. Sean Michael Ham / TGB Promotions
Truax said repeatedly going into the fight against Plant that he was grateful for the opportunity. Of course, he was. He arguably didn’t deserve it.
The product of Minnesota upset former Olympic champion James DeGale to win the same super middleweight belt Plant now holds in December 2017 and then lost it in the rematch four months later.
He has struggled since then, stopping journeyman Fabiano Pena, settling for a no-contest against Peter Quillin after he was cut, tore his Achilles tendon ahead a rematch with Quillin and then barely outpointed a 41-year-old David Basajjamivule in his most-recent fight.
Those aren’t the credentials of a mandatory challenger to Plant’s title. He most likely rose to that position because of his one and only significant victory years ago, which got him this fight.
However, when that fight actually began, he had nothing. He was beaten to the punch at every turn. He was slow, inactive, utterly overmatched. The CompuBox statistics reflect his futility: He landed less than four punches per round.
Truax tried hard. We all knew he would do that based on his track record. However, effort alone doesn’t amount to much when you don’t have the basic tools to compete at a high level, which we saw on Saturday.
You’ll rarely see a more one-sided fight than this one.
I don’t want to be too hard on any party. Such matchups are routine in boxing. Alvarez vs. Yildirim could be more one-sided, if that’s possible. And you certainly can’t blame Truax, who grabbed what was placed in front of him.
I would simply hope that the movers and shakers in the sport — anyone with any kind of authority — will see a fight like Plant vs. Truax and ask themselves, “Is this really the best we can do?”
***
WORSE
The man on the right fought for a “world title” on Saturday. Al Bello / Getty Images
The WBA might be the most objectionable of the four sanctioning bodies because it decided at some point to have two champions (three if you count its Gold title) per division and everyone inexplicably bought into it.
The Puerto Rico-based organization might’ve outdone itself on Friday, however.
The events are complicated but here goes. Heavyweight contender Trevor Bryan was scheduled to fight the WBA’s “regular” champion, Manuel Charr, on a Don King-promoted pay-per-view card in Hollywood, Fla.
However, in the end, Charr wasn’t available because of visa and other, more mysterious issues. So what did the WBA do? It designated Charr its “champion in recess” and approved a fight between Bryan and unranked Bermane Stiverne for the vacant “regular” title, which Boxing Junkie doesn’t recognize.
Stiverne is 42, was knocked out in his last two fights (against Deontay Wilder in one round and Joe Joyce in six) and hadn’t fought for nearly two years yet found himself in a “title” fight.
Now, after Bryan put Stiverne down twice and stopped the Haitian-Canadian in 11 rounds, many people who should know better will refer to Bryan as a world heavyweight champion, which is a pathetic combination of laughable and depressing.
We all know that Anthony Joshua is the actual WBA titleholder but that doesn’t seem to matter.
So how did this happen? We can only speculate. One presumption: King still has some clout at 89 years old. The legendary promoter now has a major player in the division. Another presumption: WBA officials didn’t care who Bryan fought. Sanctioning fees are sanctioning fees.
I do my best to ignore the secondary titles. I hope everyone reading this does the same thing.
Good, bad, worse: Caleb Plant is a threat to Canelo Alvarez.
A critical look at the past week in boxing
GOOD
Caleb Plant (right) found the target with regularity on Saturday. Sean Michael Ham / TGB Promotions
Canelo Alvarez would be a solid favorite to beat anyone in his weight class, including Caleb Plant.
That said, Plant’s performance against Caleb Truax on Saturday night – a shutout victory – might’ve tightened the spread to some degree. The Tennessean looked that good in a dominating victory in spite of a hand injury.
Plant has the natural gifts, quickness, reflexes and athleticism, which must’ve made him a blur to his ineffective 37-year-old opponent. He seems to have a high boxing IQ, the result of a life in the gym. And, by all accounts, he’s dedicated to his craft.
He might not be the puncher Alvarez and some others are but many fighters have risen to greatness without unusual power.
I’m not saying that Plant will ever be seen as a great fighter. It’s too early for that. His two most-significant victories are over Jose Uzcategui (to win his title) and now Truax. He must do more than that to rise to pound-for-pound status.
I AM saying that Plant seems to have the tools and work ethic to become a special fighter and perhaps give Alvarez more trouble than some will predict.
I keep thinking of Alvarez’s 2019 fight against Sergey Kovalev, a declining light heavyweight who fought the Mexican superstar on roughly even terms before he was stopped in the 11th round. The scores were 95-95, 96-94 and 96-94 for Alvarez after 10.
I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that this young, prime version of Plant – although smaller than Kovalev and not as powerful – is a better, more dynamic boxer than the Russian.
Of course, that notion could prove to be nonsense. Truax landed some solid right hands to Plant’s head, which did no damage. The natural question to ask is: What happens if Alvarez lands that punch?
Well, I presume Plant and his team will have a similar thought. And they’ll make the proper adjustments. Plant and Co. are well aware that Truax is at one level and Alvarez is another. They’ll be as ready as they can be. You can count on that.
And one more thing: Alvarez also knows that Plant is better than his last few opponents, especially after Saturday night.
***
BAD
Caleb Truax (right) survived to hear the final bell but took a beating. Sean Michael Ham / TGB Promotions
Truax said repeatedly going into the fight against Plant that he was grateful for the opportunity. Of course, he was. He arguably didn’t deserve it.
The product of Minnesota upset former Olympic champion James DeGale to win the same super middleweight belt Plant now holds in December 2017 and then lost it in the rematch four months later.
He has struggled since then, stopping journeyman Fabiano Pena, settling for a no-contest against Peter Quillin after he was cut, tore his Achilles tendon ahead a rematch with Quillin and then barely outpointed a 41-year-old David Basajjamivule in his most-recent fight.
Those aren’t the credentials of a mandatory challenger to Plant’s title. He most likely rose to that position because of his one and only significant victory years ago, which got him this fight.
However, when that fight actually began, he had nothing. He was beaten to the punch at every turn. He was slow, inactive, utterly overmatched. The CompuBox statistics reflect his futility: He landed less than four punches per round.
Truax tried hard. We all knew he would do that based on his track record. However, effort alone doesn’t amount to much when you don’t have the basic tools to compete at a high level, which we saw on Saturday.
You’ll rarely see a more one-sided fight than this one.
I don’t want to be too hard on any party. Such matchups are routine in boxing. Alvarez vs. Yildirim could be more one-sided, if that’s possible. And you certainly can’t blame Truax, who grabbed what was placed in front of him.
I would simply hope that the movers and shakers in the sport — anyone with any kind of authority — will see a fight like Plant vs. Truax and ask themselves, “Is this really the best we can do?”
***
WORSE
The man on the right fought for a “world title” on Saturday. Al Bello / Getty Images
The WBA might be the most objectionable of the four sanctioning bodies because it decided at some point to have two champions (three if you count its Gold title) per division and everyone inexplicably bought into it.
The Puerto Rico-based organization might’ve outdone itself on Friday, however.
The events are complicated but here goes. Heavyweight contender Trevor Bryan was scheduled to fight the WBA’s “regular” champion, Manuel Charr, on a Don King-promoted pay-per-view card in Hollywood, Fla.
However, in the end, Charr wasn’t available because of visa and other, more mysterious issues. So what did the WBA do? It designated Charr its “champion in recess” and approved a fight between Bryan and unranked Bermane Stiverne for the vacant “regular” title, which Boxing Junkie doesn’t recognize.
Stiverne is 42, was knocked out in his last two fights (against Deontay Wilder in one round and Joe Joyce in six) and hadn’t fought for nearly two years yet found himself in a “title” fight.
Now, after Bryan put Stiverne down twice and stopped the Haitian-Canadian in 11 rounds, many people who should know better will refer to Bryan as a world heavyweight champion, which is a pathetic combination of laughable and depressing.
We all know that Anthony Joshua is the actual WBA titleholder but that doesn’t seem to matter.
So how did this happen? We can only speculate. One presumption: King still has some clout at 89 years old. The legendary promoter now has a major player in the division. Another presumption: WBA officials didn’t care who Bryan fought. Sanctioning fees are sanctioning fees.
I do my best to ignore the secondary titles. I hope everyone reading this does the same thing.
Super middleweight titleholder Caleb Plant shut down and shut out overmatched Caleb Truax on Saturday in Los Angeles.
Bring on Canelo Alvarez?
Caleb Plant looked like a threat to anyone in his super middleweight title defense against Caleb Truax on Saturday in Los Angeles, battering his overmatched opponent en route to a shutout decision.
The 28-year-old-Plant was too quick and too good for a 37-year-old who has seen much better days, which allowed the Tennessean to have his way with Truax from beginning to end.
And he did it with what he believes was a broken left hand suffered in the first half of the fight, which might’ve played a role in his inability to deliver the knockout he had predicted.
That was the only significant flaw in his performance.
“I wanted the stoppage,” Plant said immediately after the fight. “I’m a little disappointed the hand got hurt early on in the fight but I feel I put on a great performance. And I’m ready for whoever and whatever is next.”
Plant (21-0, 12 KOs) is at the top of his game, with three successful defenses of the IBF 168-pound title he won by outpointing Jose Uzcategui in January 2019.
Truax (31-5-2, 19 KOs) is at a different stage of his career, obviously no longer the fighter who upset James DeGale by decision to win the same time title in 2017. He’s older and he has battled injuries, which evidently has slowed him down.
Truax simply didn’t have the speed and perhaps the reflexes to cope with Plant’s varied offensive attack, which started with a sharp, consistent left jab that kept Truax off balance but included power shots to the head and body from all angles.
Truax was able to slip in a few straight rights but, in the big picture, he accomplished nothing beyond surviving to hear the final bell.
The loser landed only 47 punches, according to CompuBox. That’s less than four per round. And he connected at a rate of 12%, which speaks to Plant’s defensive ability. That kind of output was far from enough to push an elite fighter like Plant.
Meanwhile, Plant picked Truax apart, broken hand or no broken hand. He landed 179 of 581 punches (31%), which was more than enough to earn 120-108 tallies on all three cards and bloody Truax’s nose.
Few fights are as one-sided as this one.
Plant was asked afterward whether he could’ve done more to stop Truax. That’s when he brought up his hand.
“I kind of hurt my hand early in the fight,” he said. “And, you know, maybe I was a little hesitant at times. But I feel like I put on a great performance. … I’m happy.”
“Do you think it’s broken?” he was asked.
“I think so,” he said.
When?
“It was about maybe a third of the way through, sometime in there. I can’t remember. Maybe the fourth or fifth round.”
The hand should have plenty of time to heal.
Alvarez, who holds the WBA and WBC belts, has said his objective is to unify all four major 168-pound titles. The Mexican star is scheduled to face mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim on Feb. 27 and reportedly has a date with WBO titleholder Billy Joe Saunders in May.
That means Plant is the favorite to face Alvarez on Mexican Independence Day weekend in September, assuming Alvarez beats Yildirim and Saunders.
“That’s my goal,” Plant said. “… I want to become the first undisputed super middleweight champion of all time. Whoever is in the way of that it doesn’t matter. You line ’em up, I’ll knock ’em down.”
Plant was asked how he matches up against Alvarez, who many believe is the best fighter in the world pound for pound. The opponent obviously doesn’t matter to him.
“Like I said, whoever is in the way of me becoming the first undisputed champion … you line ’em up, I’ll knock ’em down.”
Super middleweight titleholder Caleb Plant shut down and shut out overmatched Caleb Truax on Saturday in Los Angeles.
Bring on Canelo Alvarez?
Caleb Plant looked like a threat to anyone in his super middleweight title defense against Caleb Truax on Saturday in Los Angeles, battering his overmatched opponent en route to a shutout decision.
The 28-year-old-Plant was too quick and too good for a 37-year-old who has seen much better days, which allowed the Tennessean to have his way with Truax from beginning to end.
And he did it with what he believes was a broken left hand suffered in the first half of the fight, which might’ve played a role in his inability to deliver the knockout he had predicted.
That was the only significant flaw in his performance.
“I wanted the stoppage,” Plant said immediately after the fight. “I’m a little disappointed the hand got hurt early on in the fight but I feel I put on a great performance. And I’m ready for whoever and whatever is next.”
Plant (21-0, 12 KOs) is at the top of his game, with three successful defenses of the IBF 168-pound title he won by outpointing Jose Uzcategui in January 2019.
Truax (31-5-2, 19 KOs) is at a different stage of his career, obviously no longer the fighter who upset James DeGale by decision to win the same time title in 2017. He’s older and he has battled injuries, which evidently has slowed him down.
Truax simply didn’t have the speed and perhaps the reflexes to cope with Plant’s varied offensive attack, which started with a sharp, consistent left jab that kept Truax off balance but included power shots to the head and body from all angles.
Truax was able to slip in a few straight rights but, in the big picture, he accomplished nothing beyond surviving to hear the final bell.
The loser landed only 47 punches, according to CompuBox. That’s less than four per round. And he connected at a rate of 12%, which speaks to Plant’s defensive ability. That kind of output was far from enough to push an elite fighter like Plant.
Meanwhile, Plant picked Truax apart, broken hand or no broken hand. He landed 179 of 581 punches (31%), which was more than enough to earn 120-108 tallies on all three cards and bloody Truax’s nose.
Few fights are as one-sided as this one.
Plant was asked afterward whether he could’ve done more to stop Truax. That’s when he brought up his hand.
“I kind of hurt my hand early in the fight,” he said. “And, you know, maybe I was a little hesitant at times. But I feel like I put on a great performance. … I’m happy.”
“Do you think it’s broken?” he was asked.
“I think so,” he said.
When?
“It was about maybe a third of the way through, sometime in there. I can’t remember. Maybe the fourth or fifth round.”
The hand should have plenty of time to heal.
Alvarez, who holds the WBA and WBC belts, has said his objective is to unify all four major 168-pound titles. The Mexican star is scheduled to face mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim on Feb. 27 and reportedly has a date with WBO titleholder Billy Joe Saunders in May.
That means Plant is the favorite to face Alvarez on Mexican Independence Day weekend in September, assuming Alvarez beats Yildirim and Saunders.
“That’s my goal,” Plant said. “… I want to become the first undisputed super middleweight champion of all time. Whoever is in the way of that it doesn’t matter. You line ’em up, I’ll knock ’em down.”
Plant was asked how he matches up against Alvarez, who many believe is the best fighter in the world pound for pound. The opponent obviously doesn’t matter to him.
“Like I said, whoever is in the way of me becoming the first undisputed champion … you line ’em up, I’ll knock ’em down.”
Heavyweight Michael Coffie put Darmani Rock down twice and stopped him in the third round on the Caleb Plant-Caleb Truax card Saturday.
Michael Coffie made a nice statement on a big stage.
The heavyweight prospect, who turned pro at 29, put Darmani Rock down twice and knocked him out 59 seconds into Round 3 of a scheduled 10-round bout on the Caleb Plant-Caleb Truax card Saturday in Los Angeles.
Coffie (12-0, 9 KOs) was a little busier than Rock (17-1, 12 KOs) in the first round. And the former Marine won the second in part by getting the better of inside exchanges.
The New Yorker exploded in the third. A left uppercut put Rock down and hurt him about 20 seconds into the round. He got to his feet at around the count of 9 was continued.
However, moments later a left hook to Rock’s temple put him down again. Referee Jack Reiss reached the count of seven and then stopped the fight
Coffie, a hulking 6-foot-5, 270¼ pounds, has yet to be ranked but he knows where he wants to end up.
“I’m trying to get someone above Darmani Rock,” he said afterward. “I want that person. After that, I want somebody else who is above him … and above him and so on and so forth.
Heavyweight Michael Coffie put Darmani Rock down twice and stopped him in the third round on the Caleb Plant-Caleb Truax card Saturday.
Michael Coffie made a nice statement on a big stage.
The heavyweight prospect, who turned pro at 29, put Darmani Rock down twice and knocked him out 59 seconds into Round 3 of a scheduled 10-round bout on the Caleb Plant-Caleb Truax card Saturday in Los Angeles.
Coffie (12-0, 9 KOs) was a little busier than Rock (17-1, 12 KOs) in the first round. And the former Marine won the second in part by getting the better of inside exchanges.
The New Yorker exploded in the third. A left uppercut put Rock down and hurt him about 20 seconds into the round. He got to his feet at around the count of 9 was continued.
However, moments later a left hook to Rock’s temple put him down again. Referee Jack Reiss reached the count of seven and then stopped the fight
Coffie, a hulking 6-foot-5, 270¼ pounds, has yet to be ranked but he knows where he wants to end up.
“I’m trying to get someone above Darmani Rock,” he said afterward. “I want that person. After that, I want somebody else who is above him … and above him and so on and so forth.
Joey Spencer knocked out Isiah Seldon in first round on the Caleb Plant-Caleb Truax card Saturday.
Middleweight prospect Joey Spence didn’t need much time to put Isiah Seldon away.
Spencer (12-0, 9 KOs) put Seldon (14-4-1, 5 KOs) down twice and stopped him only 2:15 into their scheduled eight-round middleweight bout on the Caleb Plant-Caleb Truax card Saturday night in Los Angeles..
Things began to unravel for Seldon, the son of former heavyweight titleholder Bruce Seldon, about a minute into the fight. He went down hard from a straight right and got up at the count of eight. He then was docked two points for punching Spencer behind the head three times during a clinch.
And, finally, he went down again from another right to the forehead. That was enough for referee Jerry Cantu, who stopped the fight.
Joey Spencer knocked out Isiah Seldon in first round on the Caleb Plant-Caleb Truax card Saturday.
Middleweight prospect Joey Spence didn’t need much time to put Isiah Seldon away.
Spencer (12-0, 9 KOs) put Seldon (14-4-1, 5 KOs) down twice and stopped him only 2:15 into their scheduled eight-round middleweight bout on the Caleb Plant-Caleb Truax card Saturday night in Los Angeles..
Things began to unravel for Seldon, the son of former heavyweight titleholder Bruce Seldon, about a minute into the fight. He went down hard from a straight right and got up at the count of eight. He then was docked two points for punching Spencer behind the head three times during a clinch.
And, finally, he went down again from another right to the forehead. That was enough for referee Jerry Cantu, who stopped the fight.
