IBF super middleweight champion Caleb Plant pitches 12-round shutout over bloody Caleb Truax

IBF super middleweight titleholder Caleb Plant bedazzled Caleb Truax for 12 rounds Saturday night, retaining his strap by 12-round unanimous decision at Shine Exposition Center in Los Angeles, CA.

All three judges had Plant winning every round.

Plant, a 40 or something favorite, opened fast. He jabbed to the head while jumping in with left hooks and combinations. Truax tried to counter, but as expected, found Plant hard to hit. Plant moved to his left and fired fast right hands in round two. He stopped Truax in his tracks with jabs.

Truax was a step behind. Plant (21-0, 12 KOs) kept working in round three. He connected with two right hands to the gut. Through three rounds the fight resembled a sparing session. Truax (31-5 -2, 19 KOs) tried to get more active in round four. He fired a triple jab. A Plant left hook drew blood. He followed up with a stinging combination. Truax connected with an uppercut at the bell.

Plant,28, moved in and out in round five. He unleased two left hooks. Truax absorbed the blows without incident. He fired some bodyshots. Plant’s big edge in speed was extremely problematical for Truax. He was beating Truax up. Round seven was more of the same. Plant was out landing Truax eight to one. The one from Truax was a good right. Plant’s jab continued to be on point.

Truax,37, surprised Plant with a solid right to the chin in round eight. Plant appeared to lose focus for a second. He came back with a left hook. Truax, who never stopped trying, connected with another right – while Plant worked downstairs. Truax continued to look for places to fire his right in round nine. Plant connected with an uppercut and right. Truax was marked up and bleeding. He landed a right over the low left of Plant.

Plant connected with the old one-two in round 10. Truax fired another right. Plant rolled with it and went downstairs. He connected with two lefts and right. Truax dug in his own left near the end of the stanza. Plant ripped two rights in round 11. The gutsy Truax kept coming. But determination alone doesn’t always win a fight. Plant connected with two blows to the face.

Truax needed to land a Hail Mary in round 12. He’d lost every round on this writer’s scorecard. Plant kept his jab working. Truax was looking for a place to unleash his prayer punch. He needed to get closer. Plant landed a number of shots. Truax finally let his right go but missed.

“I feel like I put on a great performance,” said Plant. “I’m the best one hundred sixty-eight pounder in the world.”

Plant also said he may have broken his hand.

Undercard action:

Heavyweight Michael Coffie (12-0, 9 KOs) scored a third-round knockout over blubbery Darmani Rock (17-1, 12 KOs).

Coffie,34, took his time. In round three, he dropped Rock with a vicious uppercut. The big man beat the count but was down again seconds later. Referee Jack Reiss waved off the contest.

The time was 59 seconds into round three.

“He had quick hands we knew that, but timing beats speed,” Coffie said. “They said he shuffles his feet and drops his hands. They told me to wait for him to shuffle his feet and then drop that left hand on him.”

Rising Joey Spencer stopped Isiah Seldon in the opening stanza. The fight was a bizarre two-minute and 15 seconds affair. Spencer floored Seldon with a hard right hand. Seldon got up angry. When Spencer came near him, he let fly with a number of punches to the back of Spencer’s head. Referee Jerry Cantu broke up the action and deducted two points from Seldon. Another Spencer right ended the fight a few seconds later. Seldon got up, but Cantu had seen enough.

“I just knew that I was going to put hands on him, and that’s how I was going to retaliate,” said Spencer. “I definitely put in the back of my mind that maybe I’d punish him a little further if I would have gotten a chance. "

In super lightweight action, Rances Barthelemy (28-1-1, 14 KOs) scored a unanimous 10-round decision over All Rivera (21-5, 18 KOs). Two-division champion Barthelemy controlled all 10 rounds.

“After almost two years of being out of the ring, it was hard making sure we stuck to the game plan to make sure we didn’t get anxious or desperate,” Barthelemy said.

Middleweights Brandyn Lynch (10-1-1, 8 KOs) and Mark Hernandez (14-4-2, 3 KOs) battled to an eight-round draw. In a light heavyweight bout, Atif Oberlton (1-0, 1 KO) stopped Nathan Sharp (4-3, 4 KOs) in the third round.