By Daniel Gonzalez

Las Vegas, NV – In the first defense of his IBF Super Middleweight title, Ashland City, Tennessee native, Caleb “Sweethands” Plant (19-0, 11 KOs), put previously unbeaten Mike Lee (21-1, 11 KOs) on the canvas three times before Referee Robert Byrd decided to stop the fight at 1:29 of the third round at MGM Grand Garden Arena.  Not known for having overwhelming power, Plant wasted no time disproving the doubters on the biggest stage of his career.  Plant sent Lee to the canvas with a strong left hook toward the end of the first round in the main event on the network television Fox Sports card, that preceded the Manny Paquiao v. Keith Thurman Pay Per View event.

Plant commented after the fight, “It went exactly how I planned it would.” He credited his win to being in better condition and his hands having healed totally after having had hand injury issues in the past.  Plant, who won his IBF title in January over the very tough Jose Uzcategui, came into that fight after a year layoff, but into this fight looking fluid, slick and ready.  In the third round, after dominating the first two, Plant landed a straight at :31 that Lee could not recover from.  Plant immediately went after Lee and landed a left hook that put Lee down that caused the stoppage. Lee seemed to dispute the stoppage, but Robert Byrd was not convinced that he could continue.

Although the winner of Caleb Truax and Peter Quillim will be the the IBF mandatory for Plant going forward, a more intriguing match up for Plant would be for him to face the winner of WBC title holder Anthony Dirrell and Jose Benavidez.  They will be the co-main event to the Errol Spence v. Shawn Porter fight, which is scheduled for September 28th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.  Benavidez is considered to be the man to beat in the Super Middleweight division, but WBA titleholder Callum Smith and WBO champion Billy Joe Saunders are no pushovers.

With this impressive victory Caleb Plant made a strong case for himself to be considered amongst the best in the division. He undoubtedly is very skilled and definitely has a high boxing IQ.  After hearing the adversity that Plant has faced in his personal life, it is hard not to like him and root for him. He lost his daughter to a rare medical condition when she was just 19 months old, and recently his mother was shot and killed by a police officer in Tennessee.  He seems to have endured a tremendous amount of adversity in his life, but through all of it, he has remained focused.

Daniel Gonzalez is a Senior Boxing Writer. Dan writes for many publications including Boxing Action Magazine, www.BoxingAction24.com and www.SideStepBoxing.com

Photo courtesy of PBC & Fox Sports