Caleb Plant dominates Caleb Truax to retain IBF super middleweight title

Caleb Plant retained his IBF super middleweight title with a unanimous decision victory over challenger Caleb Truax on Saturday night at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los Angeles.

The three judges gave Plant every round, who won 120-108 across all three scorers in a dominant performance in which he was rarely threatened and outclassed veteran Truax.

Plant later said he injured his hand at the start of the bout which made him “hesitate at times”, but overall he was happy with his performance.

“I want to be the first undisputed super middleweight champion of all time,” said Plant, who has his eyes set on a potential fight in May between title holders Canelo Alvarez and Billy Joe Saunders. “Whoever opposes it, doesn’t matter.”

Plant (21-0, 12 KOs) hit Truax with a consistent left jab, shuffling in combinations along the way.

Known for his movement and his ability to anticipate and avoid punches, Plant’s speed proved too important for Truax (31-5-2, 19 KOs), who landed a total of 10 punches. in the first three rounds.

Plant began to open a cut across Truax’s face midway through the fourth round, continually dominating the fight.

The question for Plant now becomes who is next. The winner of an Alvarez-Saunders fight would make the most sense, as it would become a full unification title fight, although Alvarez still has to defeat Avni Yildirim on February 27. Alvarez owns the WBA and WBC belts, while Saunders is the WBO. title holder.

In a co-main event with heavyweights, Michael Coffie (12-0, 9 KOs) landed a neat left uppercut to knock down Darmani Rock (17-1, 12 KOs) for the first time in the third round. Rock stood up after a time of 9, then seconds later Coffie landed a left hook on Rock’s head, knocking him down a second time and ending the fight.

Undefeated 20-year-old Joey Spencer (12-0, 9 KOs) knocked out Isiah Seldon (14-4-1) in the first round of a middleweight fight, knocking him down twice. Seldon, in less than a round of action, also had two points deducted for hitting Spencer in the back of the head.