Caleb Plant maintained his IBF super middleweight title with a unanimous decision victory over challenger Caleb Truax on Saturday night at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los Angeles.
All three judges gave all rounds to Plant, who won 120-108 on all three scorecards in a dominant performance in which he was rarely threatened and overcame veteran Truax all the time.
Plant later said that he injured his hand at the start of the fight, making him “a little hesitant at times”, but overall he was happy with his performance.
“I want to become the first undisputed super middleweight champion of all time,” said Plant, who is eyeing a possible fight in May between champions Canelo Alvarez and Billy Joe Saunders. “Whoever’s in the way doesn’t matter.”
Plant (21-0, 12 KO) punched Truax with a consistent left jab, mixing in combinations along the way.
Known for his movement and ability to anticipate and avoid punches, Plant’s speed proved to be too much for Truax (31-5-2, 19 KO), who landed a total of 10 punches in the first three rounds.
Plant started cutting a cut on Truax’s face in the middle of the fourth round, while he continuously dominated the fight.
The question for Plant now is who is next. The winner of an Alvarez-Saunders fight would make more sense, as it would become a fight for the title of complete unification, although Alvarez still needs to defeat Avni Yildirim on February 27. Alvarez has the WBA and WBC belts, while Saunders is the WBO title holder.
In a co-main event with heavyweights, Michael Coffie (12-0, 9 KO) landed a 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 9 and, seconds later, Coffie hit a left hook to Rock’s head, knocking him down a second time and ending the fight.
Joey Spencer, unbeaten 20 years old (12-0, 9 KO’s) knocked out Isiah Seldon (14-4-1) in the first round of a middleweight fight, sending him onto 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.