Caleb Plant retained his IBF super middleweight title with a unanimous decision to win challenger Caleb Truax on Saturday night at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los Angeles.
All three judges gave each round to Plant, who won 120-108 on all three scorecards in a dominant performance in which he was rarely threatened and outclassed the veteran Truax everywhere.
Plant said afterwards that he had hurt his hand at the start of the fight, which made him “a little hesitant” at times, but overall he was satisfied with his performance.
“I want to become the first undisputed super middleweight champion of all time,” said Plant, who has his eyes on a possible game in May between title holders Canelo Alvarez and Billy Joe Saunders. “Whoever gets in the way doesn’t matter.”
Plant (21-0, 12 KO) hit Truax with a consistent left prick, mixing in combinations along the way.
Known for his movement and ability to anticipate and dodge punches, Plant’s speed proved too much for Truax (5/31/2, 19 KO), who landed a total of 10 punches in the first three rounds.
Plant began opening a cut on Truax’s face midway through the fourth round while constantly dominating the fight.
The question for Plant now becomes who is next. The winner of an Alvarez-Saunders bout would make the most sense as that would be a full-blown title fight, although Alvarez still has to beat Avni Yildirim on February 27. Alvarez owns the WBA and WBC tapes, while Saunders owns the WBO. title holder.
In a co-main event with heavyweights, Michael Coffie (12-0, 9 KO) landed a sharp left uppercut to take down Darmani Rock (17-1, 12 KO) for the first time in the third round. Rock got up after a count of nine, and seconds later Coffie landed a left hook to Rock’s head, landing him a second time and ending the fight.
Undefeated 20-year-old Joey Spencer (12-0, 9 KO) knocked out Isiah Seldon (14-4-1) in the first round of a middleweight bout and sent him to the mat twice. Seldon also got two points deducted in less than a round of action for hitting Spencer in the back of the head.