Caleb Plant insists he is not looking past Caleb Truax!
In the final quarter of 2020, current WBC and WBA super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KO’s) was heavily shopping around for a fight. Alvarez was campaigning at super middleweight and claimed he was shooting for undisputed. This lit a fire under all the belt holding champions to secure the lucrative showdown.
IBF super middleweight champion Caleb “Sweet Hands” Plant (20-0, 12 KO’s) received a call from Team Alvarez. Ultimately though, he and crew would pass on the bout citing insufficient time to train as the rationale. Plant isn’t sweating it though. He has faith that the bout will come back around in short order.
In the meantime, the laid back Tennessee native has penned a fight with former IBF champ and #3 ranked contender “Golden” Caleb Truax (31-4-2, 19 KO’s) for January 30. Traux stands as the second consecutive mandatory title defense for Sweet Hands. Yet, as Plant explained to Fight Hub TV, there was a method to the repetition.
“Me and my team felt like it’d be a good thing to knock out back to back mandatories that way it would leave me a years’ worth open and free to make any unification fights that can be made.
“That was the goal and that was the reason behind this and I think it’s going to work out well and in my favor. Because like I say, I have a year free for Canelo or anyone who wants to make a unification fight, so.”
BACK AGAINST THE WALL
Just because Plant has Canelo dancing in his brain doesn’t mean that he’s forgotten about Traux. The IBF champ is firmly focused on the upcoming title defense. Truax is coming in off a pair of wins over, David Basajjamivule and Fabiano Pena. However, the two victories served as bookends to a ‘No Decision’ ruling against Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin.
Earlier in the second round an accidental head-butt opened up a long, vicious gash over Truax’s right eye. Despite the severity of the cut, the fight continued until the end of the round. In the corner however, the ring doctor quickly halted the match well before the third round could begin. Golden’s last notable win came against James “Chunky” DeGale (25-3-1, 15 KO’s), back on December 9, 2017 when he became the IBF champion.
NOT LOOKING PASSED A FORMER CHAMPION
Regrettably for Golden, roughly four months later Chunky beat Truax in his first title defense and took his belt back. The upcoming bout with Plant will be his third attempt to capture a world title. At the ripe age of 37, there is no guarantee that he’ll ever get one again. This is precisely why Sweet Hands is training for a man with nothing to lose.
“I am not looking past January 30 or Caleb Truax. He’s upset people before and he’s a former world champion. Whether it’s the Ring Magazine top ten or ESPN’s top ten he’s ranked in the top ten in a lot of those. Whether it’s six or eight and so he is a competitor.
“Not looking past him, but after I do get my hand raised in fashion and after I stop him I’m excited and I think me and Canelo are going to have that fight that everybody wants.
“But again, I am not really to focused on what’s ahead or what’s down the road. I am focused on January 30. There’s been people before who weren’t focused on him and weren’t focused on the plate of food that was in front of them. He is coming to take what’s mine. This guy is a rough tough competitor and so I need to be focused on January 30.”
By: Bakari Simpson
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