Caleb Plant Mapping Out His Next Move
Following his February 15 win over Vincent Feigenbutz, IBF world Super Middleweight champion Caleb Plant (20-0, 12 KOs) caught a lot of flak for disclosing he turned down an opportunity to fight “Canelo” Alvarez in May. Plant’s rationale for his decision is something that’s still being debated by boxing fans and pundits.
The 27-year-old known as “Sweethands”, he has a different plan in mind. During a sit-down interview with ESPN, Plant disclosed his team has sent offers to WBA world Super-Middleweight “Super” champion Callum Smith (27-0, 19 KOs) and IBF Middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (40-1-1, 35 KOs).
“I’ve always been honest and always been upfront with you guys. My team has sent out an offer to Callum Smith, and we also sent out an offer and reached out to GGG to set-up a fight”.
Plant securing a fight with Golovkin seems less likely at the moment due to a calf injury. And, would “GGG” consider Plant a big enough name to move up from middleweight?
A Plant-Smith bout would be a good look for both men. With the two out of the “Canelo” sweepstakes, it would make sense to fight each other. Unification fights are always a good thing for boxing. Plus, each man could make a more than decent payday.
Asked if he’s willing to go to the UK to fight Smith, Plant said he is, but he has to see if Smith accepts the offer first and foremost.
KEEN ON UNIFICATION
Then there’s always the dangling carrot of a grudge match against WBC Super Middleweight champion and bitter rival, David Benavidez (22-0, 20 KOs). Problem is that it looks like the 23-year-old is set to fight in April (possibly against Lionell Thompson), followed by a mandatory defense against Avni Yildirim.
For the Nashville native who now lives and fights out of Las Vegas, money is not his sole objective.
“We do want to give fans great fights, and I do want to fight the best. I’m not just in this for the money, so I’m not just going to jump on an opportunity that’s not reasonable. So we’re going to try and reach out to make another unification fight.
If David [Benavidez] can’t fight and can’t unify because he’s got the replacement for [Avni] Yildirim, and then after that, he’s got to face Yildirim.
The Canelo fight is only 9 weeks away, and I CAN’T do that. And if he’s fighting Billy Joe [Saunders], and we’ve already heard that he is, then I’ll try and make a unification fight with Callum Smith.”
It’s up in the air as far as what’s next for Caleb Plant. He has a blueprint in place, but the question is will it be fully executed. Stay tuned to 3KingsBoxing for any further developments as they become available.
By: Michael Wilson Jr.
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