Caleb Plant retained his super middleweight IBF title with a unanimous decision over rival Caleb Truax on Saturday night at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los Angeles.
The three judges gave each round to Plant, who won 120-108 in all three scoring charts in a dominant performance in which he was rarely threatened and outscored veteran Truax throughout.
Plant later said he injured his hand at the start of the fight, which caused him to be “sometimes a little dubious”, but was generally pleased with his performance.
“I want to become the first undisputed super middleweight champion of all time,” said Plant, who has his eyes set on a possible May fight between Canelo Alvarez and Billy Joe Saunders. “Whoever gets in the way doesn’t matter.”
The plant (21-0, 12 KOs) poked Truax with a steady left punch, mixing in combinations along the way.
Known for his movement and ability to anticipate and evade punches, Plant’s speed proved too much for Truax (31-5-2, 19 KOs), who scored a total of 10 punches. in the first three rounds.
Plant began to open a cut in Truax’s face in the middle of the fourth round as he continually dominated the fight.
Plant’s question now becomes who follows. The winner of a fight with Alvarez-Saunders would make the most sense, as it would become a complete fight to unify the title, although Alvarez has yet to defeat Avni Yildirim on February 27th. holder.
In a heavyweight main event, Michael Coffie (12-0, 9 KOs) got a clear left to drop Darmani Rock (17-1, 12 KOs) for the first time in the third round. Rock rose after 9 points and then, according to Coffie, landed a left hook on Rock’s head, defeating him a second time and ending the fight.
Joey Spencer, 20-year-old undefeated (12-0, 9 KOs), defeated Isiah Seldon (14-4-1) in the first round of a middleweight bout, sending him to the mat twice. Seldon, in less than a round of action, also had two points deducted for hitting Spencer in the back of the head.