Can Caleb Truax Cause an Upset and Deny Caleb Plant The Canelo Alvarez Mega Fight
Caleb Plant has to defend his title against Caleb Truax
Plant is looking to keep a prospective fight with Canelo Alvarez alive when he protects his IBF title against Truax.
When Caleb Plant locks horns with Caleb Truax on Saturday in Los Angeles (FOX, 8 p.m. ET), he’ll be battling for more than collecting up a victory to preserve his IBF super middleweight championship. On the line for Plant is also a prospective bumper-payday against Canelo Alvarez.
Caleb Plant vs Canelo Alvarez most awaited fight
Alvarez, the WBC and WBA champion, has declared his intent to unify all world titles in the division, and has a possible May faceoff lined up with Billy Joe Saunders for the WBO belt — presuming Canelo gets past Avni Yildirim on Feb. 27. That implies a late 2021 or early 2022 stint with Plant to bring together all the belts.
Of course, all that centers around a series of conclusive results, beginning with Plant having to get past the man who once held the very same championship in Truax.
During his rise to the top of the division, Plant (20-0, 12 KO) has surfaced as a burgeoning star in the realm of boxing. While being given bigger stages, Plant has flourished and turned in some of the more remarkable performances of his career. In January 2019, Plant appeared in the ring versus Jose Uzcategui as an underdog, and two knockdowns and a dominant show later, emerged as a world champion.
Plant would follow up his world title win with TKO wins in title defenses versus Mike Lee and Vincent Feigenbutz. All this set up the bout with Truax, who many view as past his prime. As a binding opponent, however, he allows Plant the wiggle room to hopefully move on into the Alvarez fight.
Caleb Truax a talented fighter facing bad times
Truax is a skilled fighter, and his 2017 shock upset of James DeGale earned him a world championship, even if DeGale won the belt back in their abrupt rematch. He is, however, thirty seven years old, and time does play an inevitable role in any sport and boxing is no different. Bad luck can strike a boxer as well, and Truax has faced his share in recent times, including a cut due to an unintended headbutt against Peter Quillin, an Achilles injury and then a bad weight cut that cancelled a scheduled fight with Alfredo Angulo.
Why Caleb Truax is happy being called the underdog?
The contender is under no misconceptions about his status as an underdog entering the fight, as the older fighter coming off his recent run of unlucky situations and facing a young, hungry world champion. Still, Truax considers being the underdog is an ideal role for him and it present to him the opportunity to prove everyone wrong.
