Boxing Results: Caleb Plant defeats Vincent Feigenbutz

By Boxing News - 02/15/2020 - Comments

By Mark Eisner: In a complete mismatch, IBF super middleweight champion Caleb ‘Sweethands’ Plant (20-0, 12 KOs) schooled his mandatory challenger Vincent Feigenbutz (31-3, 28 KOs) him in a 10th round on Saturday night at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. When the fight got too out of hand in the 10th, referee Malik Waleed stepped in and stopped the fight contest. The official time of the stoppage was at 2:23 of round 10.

In the 10th round, Plant unloaded a flurry of shots that made it necessary for the fight to be stopped. During the round, Plant had nailed Feigenbutz with some nice uppercuts, and he was having his way. Feigenbutz’s nose looked busted up, and his face was swollen as well. Surprisingly, Plant stayed in the pocket much of the fight, and fought Feigenbutz at close range.

Plant looked bigger, and more muscular than before. Working out at the SNAC facility in San Carlos, California seems to have changed Plant’s physique. He’s not as trim as before, and he wasn’t as light on his feet. He was carrying around a lot more muscle, but without any new power.

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Plant’s punching power wasn’t impressive, but his boxing skills were elite level. He had Feigenbutz looking confused and helpless from the outset.

Plant calls out David Benavidez for unification fight

“I was super fueled, and I could have gone all night,” said Plant after the fight. “I felt great. And I was relaxed and sharp. I told you guys I was going to stop this fight before the 12th round. Everybody knows I want that unification fight with David Benavidez.

“You know who the best 168 pounder is. If you want that, you’ve got to come see me. I’ve been wanting that fight, and have been asking for it, and I’m tired of waiting,” said Plant.

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Feigenbutz unable to get his shots off

The 24-year-old Feigenbutz wasn’t throwing enough punches, and the referee had no option but to halt it. The young German showed good power, but he was getting hit with too many unanswered shots from Caleb, and it wasn’t a competitive match.

The 24-year-old challenger Feigenbutz showed a lot of courage in taking a horrendous amount of punishment. It’s unknown why the International Boxing Federation had Feigenbutz as the mandatory for Plant, as he’d beaten no one of note since his 11h round knockout loss to Giovanni De Carolis in 2016.

Plant, 27, landed at will with his jabs, left hands and right hand power shots. Feigenbutz’s lack of defense made Plant look even better than he was. Feigenbutz was plodding forward all night, eating shots, and not throwing his punches back in a timely manner. Plant’s movement made things tougher for Feigenbutz, but he still could have gotten to him if he wasn’t so slow-footed.

The IBF arguably needs to weed out some of the weaker contenders by doing a better job of ranking their top 15. There’s been a lot of mismatches involving IBF challengers that look lost when challenging for world titles. Feigenbutz just another example of a highly ranked IBF contender that looked like he didn’t belong inside the ring challenging for a world title tonight.

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Plant may have hurt his chances for Canelo Alvarez fight

The one-sided nature of this fight might not have helped Plant land a big money fight against Canelo Alvarez. Plant is said to be one of a small number of fighters that are in the running to be Canelo’s next opponent for May 2 in Las Vegas. However, with the way that Plant dominated Feigenbutz, it would be a miracle if he lands the fight with Canelo.

The hit and move style that Plant used against Feigenbutz is the opposite of the way he likely needed to fight for him to get picked by Canelo and his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions. Canelo’s foot speed is similar to Feigenbutz, and he would have fits dealing with Plant’s mobility. A fight against Canelo would be a huge payday for Plant, but it might take a small miracle for him to get the fight after tonight.