Caleb Plant says he wants to receive full credit from fans when he beats Jermall Charlo later this year because he’s taking a tune-up first against Thomas LaManna next month on May 31st.
The WBA interim 168-lb champion Plant (23-2, 14 KOs) is being trashed on social media by fans for choosing #15-ranked Jose Armando Resendiz as his next opponent for the PBC on Prime Video event on May 31st.
Resume Check
– Trevor McCumby: = a fringe contender
– Anthony Dirrell: 39 years old
– Caleb Truax: 37
– Vincent Feigenbutz
– Mike Lee
– Jose Uzcategui
That’s a pretty average bunch of fighters that Plant has beaten in the last six years since 2019. It would say something if he had wins over Benavidez, David Morrell, or Osleys Iglesias. He hasn’t done that because those guys are on another level than him.
Tune-Up Trend
Plant says he’s taking this fight against Resendiz because Jaime Munguia is fighting Bruno Surace in a rematch, and Christian Mbilli is negotiating to face Diego Pacheco. He wants to stay busy to set up a “big fight” against Jermall Charlo. That’s the one that Plant ones, despite Jermall being old, inactive, and not exactly living the life of a boxer outside of the ring.
This is Plant’s second consecutive tune-up-level opponent he’s taken since losing to David Benavidez in 2023. Caleb already had a Soft opponent in his last fight against Trevor McCumby on September 14th. Plant’s career resume is poor. Plant’s career is built on wins over lesser fighters and many old guys. When he did step up twice, he was exposed.
Fans aren’t naive. They know that Jermall Charlo is 35 years old and has ONLY fought once in the last four years since 2021. Charlo (33-0, 22 KOs) has rarely been seen since 2021 and looked hellishly bad in his last fight two years ago against former welterweight Jose Benaidez Jr. on November 25, 2023.
Jermall is taking a tune-up against LaManna (39-5-1, 18 KOs) on May 31st, but what does that count for? Fans aren’t going to be impressed with the 35-year-old Charlo coming after two years out of the ring to defeat LaManna, a fighter that Erislandy Lara knocked out in the first round on May 1st, 2021.
He’s never beaten anyone of note. Some people believe that he’s been able to dodge criticism that other fighters wouldn’t have if they had a similar weak resume. Plant has a lot of wins over older, shopworn fighters, and he’s never beaten any of the killers. In the two times he stepped up against A-level guys, he was beaten in his fights against Canelo Alvarez and David Benavidez.
Plant’s Excuses
“All the other super middleweights are busy. [Jaime] Munguia, he needs to work himself back in position. He has an important fight on his hands [Bruno Surace on May 3rd]. So, he’s busy and booked up,” said Caleb Plant on Instagram Live, explaining why he’s fighting the bottom-ranked fringe contender Jose Armando Resendiz on May 31st rather than a top-five talent.
Plant’s excuse for fighting Resendiz doesn’t wash. Surely, Osleys Iglesias, David Morrell, or Joshua Buatsi were available to fight him. He didn’t have to fight Resendiz, who Elijah Garcia recently knocked out.
“[Diego] Pacheco and [Christian] Mbilli are in negotiations now, trying to make a fight happen,” Plant continued with his excuses. “My manager, Luis DeCubas, reached out to Edgar Berlanga’s manager, Keith Connolly, and tried to make a fight for lster this summer. He turned it down and didn’t want to.”
Why would Plant want to fight Edgar Berlanga when he was recently shut out by Canelo Alvarez in a lopsided 12-round unanimous decision defeat on September 14th? Why isn’t Plant trying to fight Iglesias, Morrell, Buatsi, or Callum Smith? Some of those guys are light heavyweights, but they’ve spent the major portions of their careers at 168.
“So, that leaves me in a position where I’m not sitting around waiting on these dudes,” said Plant. “So, I’m like, ‘Let’s make a fight with [Jermall] Charlo. Let’s make it happen.’ But he’s had some time away from the ring, and he wanted a fight [translation: tune-up against Thomas LaManna on May 31st]. I think that’s reasonable. I can respect that. Plus, when I do beat Charlo, I don’t want to hear that he’s been inactive or that he hasn’t fought in X-amount of time.
“Let’s give him a fight and me a fight to stay busy and stay active. Then make a big fight for the fans later this year. So, this is my fastest route and my best route to get a big fight that I want. So, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Last Updated on 04/03/2025
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