Plant wins by KO

NEW YORK — Caleb Plant (221, 13 KOS) knocked out Anthony Dirrell (34-3-2) in the ninth round of their super middleweight matchup between past champions. Plant, 30 and a Las Vegan by way of Ashland City, Tennessee, lost his belt in his previous fight when he was stopped by undisputed champion Canelo Alvarez.

The fight featured plenty of holding and wrestling and occasional lengthy stretches with little punching, bringing down boos in Brooklyn. Suddenly, Plant followed up a left to the body with a left hook to the head that dropped Dirrell to the canvas and left him there for a few minutes, with Plant standing above him and mimicking a shoveling motion as if digging the veteran’s grave.