Teofimo Lopez and Tim Tszyu both agree that Caleb Plant (23-3, 14 KOs) made the mistake of fighting Armando Resendiz (16-2, 11 KOs) on the inside instead of using his regular outside game in his 12-round split decision loss last Saturday night at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas.
Plant’s Inside Mistake
Plant tried to recycle the strategy that had worked for him in his previous fight against fringe contender Trevor McCumby, and it backfired on him against Resendiz. Caleb picked the wrong guy to try and fight on the inside against, as Resendiz is Mexican and has been brought up fighting on the inside.
It was a costly mistake for Caleb because he lost his WBA interim super middleweight title. That trinket belt was his golden ticket, needed for him to get a lucrative mega-million rematch against Canelo Alvarez as part of his ‘Revenge Tour.’
Plant still hasn’t given up on the ‘Revenge Tour’ gimmick to try and get another big payday like the $10 million he got in 2021 against Canelo, but he’s got another obstacle in his way to get the rematch. Now, ‘Sweethands’ Plant needs to defeat not only Jermall Charlo, but also Resendiz for him to have a shot at getting selected by Alvarez for another fight.
Gold Fever for Canelo
The boxing public doesn’t want to see Canelo vs. Plant 2. One fight was enough. Plant and Edgar Berlanga both have gold fever, determined to get that second payday against Canelo regardless of fan disinterest.
“I think it should have been a unanimous decision for ‘Toro’ [Armando Resendiz]. Body work and combinations,” said Teofimo Lopez to Fight Hub TV about why he felt that Armando Resendiz deserved the victory over Caleb Plant last Saturday night.
Without question, the Plant-Resendiz fight should have been a unanimous decision, not a split decision. I don’t know what the judge, David Sutherland, was thinking when he scored the fight 115-113 in favor of Plant. The other two judges had their head screwed on properly, scoring it 116-112 to Resendiz. I watched the fight and had it 117-111 for Resendiz.
Plant’s Strategic Blunder
“He kept being aggressive and controlling the center of the ring. Caleb was doing well in the first three or four rounds, but I think those body shots really got to him,” said Teofimo about what went wrong for Plant against Resendiz. “I think you got to stick to what you know. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I think Caleb is a well-rounded boxer, not an inside fighter,” said Lopez, talking about the mistake Plant made in the fight by brawling with Resendiz on the inside.
Again, Plant made the mistake of believing that he could brawl on the inside against Resendiz like he’d done against the low-level fighter, Trevor McCumby
“The best man won tonight, ‘Toro.’ Congratulations to him. I think something was wrong with his camp. He was gun-shy with his right hand. I think if he threw those right hands more, he would have been more elusive and made the fight a bit easier,” said Lopez about what Plant should have done.
Was Plant’s Hand Injured?
Plant revealed after the fight that he had fought with an injured right hand, which prevented him from using it effectively. However, his trainer, Stephen Edwards, says he was unaware that his hand was injured.
That leaves you wondering whether Caleb was coming up with excuses to avoid the backlash from his upset loss. After all, this was a tune-up fight against a fringe middleweight contender. ‘Sweethands’ Plant didn’t even choose a contender from the 168-lb division. This was supposed to be a gimme.
Last Updated on 06/01/2025
Read the full article here