IBF champ Plant wins in decision

IBF super middleweight champion Caleb Plant had hoped to knock out Caleb Truax on Saturday at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles.

He settled for a convincing decision instead.

Plant capped the third defense of his title with a 120-108 unanimous decision over Truax, his mandatory opponent per the IBF. The 28-yearold Las Vegas resident landed 147 punches to Truax’s 27 and connected on 31 percent of his punches compared with 12 percent

for Truax.

Plant said he thinks he broke one of his hands midway through the fight, but added that he was satisfied with his showing against the Minnesota native.

“I wanted the stoppage,” said Plant, a native of Nashville, Tennessee. “But I feel like I put on a great performance, and I’m ready for whatever and whoever is next.”

Plant (21-0, 12 knockouts) established his jab in the early rounds and used it to set up his power punches. He battered Truax (31-5-2, 19 KOs) with a flurry of power punches to cut him in the fourth round. He resumed his dominance in the latter rounds, showing few signs of injury as he punished the former IBF champion.

Truax, 37, tried to rally late, but Plant was too deft with his defense and managed to avoid any damage.

“I didn’t get touched, really,” Plant said. “I feel like I put on a great performance. I’m happy.”

Plant long has hoped to fight WBC and WBA super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez, the man regarded by many as the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter. Alvarez is set to fight WBC mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim next month and reportedly is going to fight WBO titlist Billy Joe Saunders in May. A fight against Plant could follow. “I want to become the first undisputed super middleweight champion of all time,” Plant said. “Whoever is in the way of that, it doesn’t matter, you line them up, I’ll knock them down. … I feel like I’m the best super middleweight in the world.”

Caleb Plant