Caleb Plant Putting Beef with Anthony Dirrell Behind Him
Coming off his sole professional defeat, it goes without saying that super middleweight boxer Caleb “Sweethands” Plant (22-1, 13 KO’s) was looking to make a statement. The one-time IBF champion just had his hopes to be the first undisputed 168-pound champion in history dashed by Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. With the redhead snagging that highlight for himself, Plant returned to the ring looking for redemption versus Anthony “The Dog” Dirrell (34-3-2, 25 KO’s).
The Dog was the perfect foil for the duel because he brought a wealth of animosity and contempt to the table. Equipped with zero respect for Sweethands as a person, Dirrell openly talked about his dislike of Plant and relentlessly poked holes in his resume. Despite the rancor that saturated the pre-fight build-up, the fight itself was largely a slow and somewhat dreary affair. To his credit, Sweethands was controlling the action with his feet. While the pace and tempo suited him strategically, it drew frequent boos from the audience at hand.
I SAID WHAT I SAID
The discontentment of the crowd abruptly morphed into joy when Plant cracked and snuffed Dirrell with one shot in the ninth. While standing center ring, Sweethands nailed The Dog with a thumping left hook that melted his limbs like a burning July sun does a popsicle. Near instantly it was evident that it was a serious knockout and concern was rising for Dirrell’s overall health.
As the fallen fighter was being attended however, Plant pantomimed himself shoveling dirt on Dirrell (who was still on the canvas at the time). Upon seeing this, referee Harvey Dock ran over and attempted to get Plant to cease the crude behavior. Plant got in another shovel or two of imaginary dirt for good measure. When given the opportunity to extend an olive branch during a Q&A with SecondsOut, Plant certainly doubled down on his it-is-what-it-is demeanor.
“Just with everything he had to say about me, I’m pussy, I’m a bitch, I can’t fight, I ain’t never beat nobody, I’m a bum, I don’t hit hard, all this. Well after the fight, we buried all that. We handled our business, so now I am just moving on to the next.”
AND THE LUCKY WINNER IS!
It will be interesting to see who Plant gloves up to dance with next. He has stated multiple times that his ultimate goal is to first achieve undisputed status as well as face Canelo again. Considering that is radically unlikely to happen next, Sweethands may want to check for an old rival in two-time super middleweight champion David Benavidez.
Alternatively, Plant could ink a contract with 168-pound newcomer Demetrius Andrade, who just recently called him out. No matter who he selects, let’s just hope it’s a good fight because there are a plethora of solid matchups for him!
By: Bakari Simpson
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