Saturday, January 30, will mark the IBF super-middleweight champion’s return; Sweet Hands’ Caleb Plant. As he will defend his world title against former IBF champion Caleb Truax at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles. Plant, 28 is currently undefeated with 20 wins, of which 12 are by stoppage. Truax is 37 and has a record of 31-4-2 with 19 KOs. Both fighters last fought about a year ago.
This bout has been given a lot of prime promo on the Fox network channels. This is a good way of promoting Plant towards stardom in his weight class. However, initially, he was on the shortlist to fight boxing’s biggest superstar, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, when he made his return to the ring in December. According to sources, Plant turned it down due to not having a long enough camp to adequately prepare for Canelo. However, by defeating Truax, he knows that bigger things can be ahead. “I know in due time after I handle business on January 30, when those fights do happen, everything will come to fruition just like we imagined.”, said Plant.
Truax comes into this bout as a massive underdog and looking to reclaim the IBF title he won by upsetting then champion James DeGale in 2017. He immediately lost it back to DeGale 4 months later in their rematch. The grizzled veteran knows that he may not get another title shot. “At my age, at 37, there is no telling when I’ll be able to get a world title fight again. So, I’ve been approaching it as if this is my last shot.”, he said.
As for expectations on how the fight plays out, Truax will come and bring his all. But recovering from issues with his Achilles and elbow problems can be quite a bit to deal with for an aging fighter going up against someone 9 years his junior. Plant seems determined though, and is an impressive boxer that has plenty of skills, putting together good combinations, good footwork, and excellent defense.
