Caleb Plant’s Trainer Concerned About Face Breakdown Against Armando Resendiz

Caleb Plant’s trainer, Stephen Edwards, is concerned about how his face broke apart so quickly in his loss to Armando Resendiz last Saturday night. Edwards says that the way Plant’s face started swelling up played a part in his 12-round split decision defeat to Resendiz (16-2, 11 KOs) at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas.

Resendiz’s Downward Punches

The reason that Plant’s skin broke down so fast wasn’t age-related. It was because Resendiz was punching down on his shots in close, which had a pulling effect on Plant’s face. They weren’t straight punches like the ones that Caleb had typically been hit with in fights against David Benavidez, Trevor McCumby, and Anthony Dirrell.

These were shots that Resendiz was throwing that had a downward motion that had a tearing, bruising effect on Plant’s face.

Stephen states that he wants to see Plant (23-3, 14 KOs) in action again before he determines whether he should retire. Plant lost his WBA interim super middleweight title to Resendiz by the scores 116-112, 116-112 for Resendiz and 115-113 for Plant.

Caleb was supposed to win that fight to get the Jermall Charlo match, which would have been a well-paying clash on PPV.

Facial Damage Affected Plant’s Loss

“The punches were bothering him a little bit. His face was busting up a lot. He was just showing the wear and tear of the fights,” said trainer Stephen Edwards to Sean Zittel about Caleb Plant’s fight against Armando Resendiz last Saturday night.

Plant shouldn’t have been fighting Resendiz on the inside. That was a mistake because he’d already shown in his past fights againt Jarrett Hurt, Fernando Paliza, and Elijah Garcia that he’s a nightmare to fight in close. Caleb’s recent performance against Trevor McCumby made him think that he could fight Resendiz on the inside and dominate like he’d done against this guy.

“His skin was breaking up kind of bad, and I think that’s one of the things that caused the victory. He came back after the third round, and he had this little something on his nose. I was like, ‘Damn, where did that come from? He barely got hit,” said Edwards about Plant having a little nick between his eyes after the third.

Plant was getting hit with shots from Resendiz that were coming downward on his face, and ripping at his skin. It would have been impossible for Resendiz to get away with fighting like that if Plant had stayed on the outside. Again, he thought he could fight on the inside againt this guy and he paid a heavy price.

The reason Plant was cut in the third round is that he was backed against the ropes and took a big left hand from Resendiz. That shot hit Plant with full force, and he was unable to roll with it because he was stationary.

Plant’s Retirement Not Yet Decided

“You dont want to rush to judgment on one night. I didn’t see anything wrong with his speed and reflexes, but it just seemed like the punches had a bigger effect on him,” said Edwards. “They [the punches] were having a big effect on him [Plant]. I think Resendiz is a decent guy, but I don’t look at him like he has bricks in his hands.”

Resendiz doesn’t have bricks in his hands, but he punches good on the inside. Plant was indulging him. Plant is a good fighter, but he was never a great talent. Years ago when he was beating fighters like Jose Uzcategui, Caleb Truax, and Mike Lee, he still didn’t look great. He was beating average fighters, who don’t compare to the top-tier fighters nowadays.

We saw how Plant struggled against the bottom-tier fighter McCumby in his last fight. That guy is a fringe contender and nowhere near as good as the top 10-level fighters. It’s not that Plant is over the hill. He’s the same as always. It’s just that the fighters are better now at 168 than when he was making a name for himself from 2018 to 2021.

“I want to see more of Caleb before I say he should hang them up. But I will say is the punches had a big effect on him than I thought they would have,” said Edwards. “I’ve seen Resendiz fight a few times, and I’ve never viewed him as this huge, vicious puncher. I just thought he was a strong come-forward guy. he obviously has heavy hands. He has 16 wins with 11 knockouts.”