By Ian S Palmer
Former IBF Super Middleweight boss Caleb Plant of Nashville, Tennessee takes on former WBC Super Middleweight Champion Anthony Dirrell of Flint, Michigan this Saturday, October 15th. The 12-rounder from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York can be seen live on Fox pay-per-view in America on the undercard of the Deontay Wilder vs Robert Helenius bout while fans in the UK can catch it on the FITE network. Plant lost his title to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez by 11th-round stoppage in his last outing in November, 2021 while Dirrell last fought in November as well when he halted Marcos Hernandez in the fourth round.
The 30-year-old Plant, who now resides in Las Vegas, won the IBF title in January, 2019 when he beat Jose Uzcategui by unanimous decision and dropped him twice on his way to victory. He then defended the belt against Mike Lee by third-round TKO in 2019 before stopping the unheralded Vincent Feigenbutz in 2020 and beating Caleb Truax by unanimous decision in January, 2021 before losing to Alvarez.
Plant enters the ring with an impressive record of 21-1 with 12 Ko’s and has boxed 133 rounds since turning pro in 2014. He’s a good-sized 168-pounder at 6-feet-1-inch tall with a 74-inch wingspan. He doesn’t possess great one-punch power but has a decent knockout ratio of 54.6 per cent. Plant enjoyed a fine amateur career and fought in the 2011 and 2013 Golden Gloves tournaments.
He was also an alternate for the American Olympic Team for the 2012 Games in London, England. His best wins as a pro have been over Truax, Lee, Uzcategui, Rogelio Medina, Juan De Angel, Carlos Galvan, Thomas Awimbono, Adasat Rodriguez and Andrew Hernandez. He possesses fine mobility, skills and speed and will try to utilize those attributes against Dirrell.
The 37-year-old Dirrell will enter the ring with a record of 34-2-2 with 25 Ko’s. He’s a fine boxer, but not quite in the upper echelon or elite class at the moment. His best performances have been against Caleb Truax, Marco Antonio Rubio, Denis Douglin and Sakio Bika (twice). Dirrell fought to a 12-round draw with Bika in their first meeting in December, 2013 and then took Bika’s WBC crown via unanimous decision the next time out in August, 2014.
Dirrell lost the crown to Badou Jack by majority decision in April, 2015 and was stopped by David Benavidez in the ninth round in 2019 in a shot at his old world title. His other draw was against Kyrone Davis over 12 rounds in 2021. Dirrell’s also quite big for the division at just over 6-feet-2-inches tall with a 74.5-inch reach, which gives him a 1.5-inch edge in height on Plant with a minimal half-inch reach advantage.
Dirrell has better-than-average power with a current knockout rate of 65.8 per cent but like plant, isn’t really considered a to be a KO artist. He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma back in 2007 and underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments for close to two years before fighting again. Dirrell turned pro back in 2005 and has fought 175 rounds since.
Prediction…
Plant is mobile with good movement but may be somewhat overrated while Dirrell may be a little underrated. Dirrell’s 37 years old now though and his best days appear to be behind him. Plant has a lot to prove here, especially if he hopes to eventually land a rematch with Alvarez. This should be a close fight as Dirrell can be a handful when he’s at his best but I’m expecting Plant to take it.
