Caleb Truax: I Have To Make It A Dogfight With Plant, Make Him Uncomfortable

Caleb Truax won’t attempt to out-box Caleb Plant on Saturday night.

The former IBF super middleweight champion respects Plant’s jab, intelligence, athleticism and ring generalship enough to know that wouldn’t be a smart strategy in their 12-round, 168-pound title fight in Los Angeles. The 37-year-old Truax must get in Plant’s chest and make their fight physical to have a legitimate chance to pull off another upset, similar to how he defeated England’s James DeGale by unanimous decision in their 12-rounder three years ago in London.

“He’s a good boxer,” Truax told BoxingScene.com. “He’s got a high ring IQ. He’s got good foot speed and hand speed, and throws some pretty fluid combinations. It’s gonna take a really good effort, my best effort, to beat him. I see it kind of similar to the first fight with DeGale, where I kinda have to bring the fight to him and put pressure on him and make him uncomfortable because when he gets off to a lead and stays behind his jab and keeps his distance, he’ll be tough to beat.”

Truax (31-4-2, 19 KOs, 1 NC), of St. Michael, Minnesota, has been critical of Plant’s level of opposition since he beat Jose Uzcategui to win the IBF belt in January 2019 at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The 28-year-old Plant (20-0, 12 KOs), who is consistently listed as at least a 45-1 favorite, has stopped previously unbeaten Mike Lee in the third round and mandatory challenger Vincent Feigenbutz in the 10th round since he unseated Uzcategui in their 12-rounder.

Truax noticed things during the second half of the Plant-Uzcategui bout that he can apply against Plaint in the main event of FOX’s tripleheader from Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall.

“He has never fought anybody like me, outside of Jose Uzcategui, who fought like sh-t the first half of the fight,” Truax said. “And then, the second half of the fight, he had some good success against him. I think I offer something no one else he has fought does, in terms of experience and technique and skill and determination. So, I’m gonna have to make it a dogfight, make him uncomfortable and hopefully that makes for a good fight for the fans.”

FOX’s telecast is set to start at 8 p.m. EST and 5 p.m. PST.

Before Plant-Truax, FOX will air an eight-round middleweight match in which Joey Spencer (11-0, 8 KOs), of Union City, California, will face Isiah Seldon (14-3-1, 5 KOs), of Somers Point, New Jersey. Philadelphia’s Darmani Rock (17-0, 12 KOs) and Brooklyn’s Michael Coffie (11-0, 8 KOs) also will square off in a televised 10-round heavyweight bout. 

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.