Caleb Plant wasn’t impressed with Jermall Charlo’s recent victory over Jose Benavidez Jr., but he’s happy he won because he wants to face him next.
Plant (22-2, 13 KOs) says a fight between him and Jermall (33-0, 22 KOs) “needs to happen” next. Caleb’s attempts at hustling a fight with Jermall probably won’t work because he’s got options and doesn’t need to help him in his time of need.
The former IBF super middleweight champion Plant is in a weakened opposition career-wise, having lost two out of his last three fights, so he’s not someone that Jermall “needs” right now unless he wants to give the down & out Tennsee native a helping hand.
Plant needs pick-me-up right now because he’s going through a bad patch in his career. Should Jermall help him? What has old ‘Sweethands’ ever done for him? He slapped Jermall in the face.
If the shoe were on the other foot, would Plant throw a bone to Jermall if he was in his position or would he give him the back of his hand again?
Charlo is in the running for a much bigger clash against undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez for May on Cinco de Mayo, so he’s not going to pull the trigger on a fight against Plant.
Jermall looked excellent coming off a two-and-a-half-year layoff to defeat Benavidez Jr. (28-3-1, 19 KOs) by a ten round unanimous decision by the scores 100-90, 99-91, and 98-92.
Plant still improving
“David [Benavidez] went in there from the get-go and was basically able to do what he wanted. He got the job done,” said Caleb Plant to Fight Hub TV, talking about WBC interim super middleweight champion David Benavidez’s round stoppage win over Demetrius Andrade on November 25th.
Benavidez vs. Andrade wasn’t even a fair fight because, besides the age factor that the 35-year-old Demetrius had going against him, he was dealing with inactivity and lack of experience at 168, and he was going up against a much bigger fighter.
It was a good win for Benavidez, but it looks bad that he turned down a fight with David Morrell to face Andrade. That is a cherry-picking move for ‘The Mexican Monster’ and shows that he’s not willing to take risks unless it involves him getting a monstrous payday against Canelo.
Benavidez has done nothing to earn a fight with Canelo, and it’s pretty obvious that he’s taking non-risky fights while boiling down to fight two divisions below his size, which is cruiserweight.
“I would never brag about losing, but I feel like Boo Boo had a lot to say about how much better he is than me and how he taught me everything I know,” said Plant. “So for him to go in after the fifth or sixth round, I’m not sure which one it was, but for him to tell his corner, ‘Stop it.’ For him to tell his corner to stop it, that speaks for itself.
“I think everyone in the boxing game, they know the skills I’ve got, the level of ability I’m able to fight on. I think they constantly see me getting better because I’m always in the gym, I’m always grinding and working with my team and getting better,” said Plant.
Skills didn’t help Plant in his fights with Canelo & Benavidez, did they? If Plant’s skills only help him beat old guys like 39-year-old Anthony Dirrell, what good are they?
Plant would be better off having fewer skills and more power & stamina. He needs to go to Walmart and buy some of that. His overrated skills, I hate to say, aren’t helping him.
The problem with Plant is that he’s just a six round fighter. He’s great for six rounds, but then gasses out and gets beaten up in the second half of his fights. So, his skills are completely useless against A-level opposition.
“Just constantly getting better, constantly being in the gym, is going to add new wrinkles to my game, and like you said, you may have seen new wrinkles yourself,’ said Plant. “I’ve been in the gym for a long time since my last fight since May or June, I’ve been training and grinding.
“It’s been coming together nicely and trying to get that [Jermall] Charlo fight. That’s what we want next. I don’t need a tune-up going into that fight. It doesn’t matter if I’ve been off a little bit. I want that fight right next,” said Plant.
Jermall Charlo on Plant’s target list
“I’m not hard to make a fight with, and I ain’t hard to find,” said Plant. “It wasn’t nothing spectacular. He was in there with a much smaller guy, and he was on his business,” said Plant about his thoughts on Jermall Charlo’s one-sided ten round unanimous decision win over Jose Benavidez Jr. on November 25th.
Oh, look at this. Plant is stabbing Jermall in the back one minute, and then in the next breath, he’s saying he wants to fight him. Just for that reason alone, Jermall should ignore him and let him work his way into a fight the hard way by running the gauntlet through these killers:
- Dmitry Bivol
- David Morrell
- Diego Pacheco
- Edgar Berlanga
“He got the job done; he won. I’m glad he won. That’s what I wanted to win, so we can make a fight happen,” Plant said about Jermall. “Again, it’s not like I was super impressed or anything like that, but I’m glad he won, and that’s a fight that needs to happen next.”
Where’s the gain for Jermall to fight a backstabber with a 1-2 record in his last three fights? I don’t see how Jermall’s come out ahead fighting Plant because this guy needs to go through the gauntlet before he’s ready to face him. If Plant can beat Morrell, Bivol & Pacheco, then he’ll be ready for Jermall.
Plant proud of Devin Haney
“That’s a good fight, a big fight, and I’m proud to see Devin constantly going after big fights,” said Plant about Devin Haney’s headliner this Saturday night, December 9th, against WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis on DAZN PPV at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
“I’m proud of Devin. He’s a great fighter, and Regis is a really good fighter as well, too. I’ve got Devin in that fight, but Regis is a good fighter. It makes for an exciting fight. It’s good for boxing.”
Plant is proud of Devin Haney right now, but will he still feel that way if Prograis knocks him out on Saturday night? Haney’s run of luck could come to an end against Prograis, who has more than enough power to take the judges out of the equation so he won’t get robbed like Vasily Lomachenko.
“It just proves that hard work pays off. I know him and his pops [Bill Haney] have been working hard for a long time,” said Plant when asked about his thoughts on seeing Haney achieve so much success.
“It’s nice to see somebody who has put their all into the sport see things come together for him,” said Plant.
Haney hasn’t beaten anyone good yet in his career other than Lomachenko, and we all know that was a gift decision. If you take Lomachenko out of the equation, what wins does Haney have on his resume? Nobody.
