By Keith Idec
Caleb Plant impressed in his Showtime debut Friday night.
The super middleweight prospect kept his unblemished record intact by dominating late replacement Andrew Hernandez in a 10-round, 168-pound bout at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The 25-year-old Plant, of Ashland City, Tennessee, thoroughly out-classed Hernandez on his way to winning a unanimous decision in the first of three fights Showtime televised as part of a “ShoBox: The New Generation” tripleheader.
Plant improved to 16-0 after recording a shutout on all three scorecards. Each judge – Eric Cheek, Burt Clements and Lisa Giampa – scored all 10 rounds for Plant (100-90).
Phoenix’s Hernandez slipped to 19-7-1 (9 KOs, 1 NC).
Plant was patient and poised from the opening bell, when he began using his accurate jab to set up Hernandez in the first round. By the second round, Plant began connecting regularly with his left hook, both to the head and body.
That trend continued in the third round, as Hernandez had trouble getting inside against Plant and dealing with his superior hand speed and boxing ability. A cut opened over Hernandez’s left eye in the third round as well.
Plant picked apart Hernandez in the fourth round, too. Hernandez had some success with his own jab in the fifth round, but Plant came back to land a couple hard left hooks to Hernandez’s head toward the end of that round.
The bigger, stronger, Plant started the sixth round strong with more jabs and left hooks. By then, Hernandez’s left eye was beginning to swell shut.
Referee Russell Mora warned Hernandez just after the midway mark of the seventh round for low blows. Those didn’t slow down Plant, who began drilling Hernandez with straight right hands and left hooks late in the round.
Following another round-plus of Plant picking apart Hernandez, Mora asked a ringside physician to look at the cut and swelling around Hernandez’s left eye with 2:08 to go in the ninth round. Hernandez began showboating once the action resumed, perhaps to let Mora know that he was still capable of continuing.
Plant wasn’t fazed by Hernandez’s antics and continue to out-box him. Mora and the ringside physician went to Hernandez’s corner after the ninth round, but Hernandez convinced them that he could complete the 10th and final round.
The courageous Hernandez indeed finished the fight on his feet, but he was no more effective in the 10th round than the rest of this one-sided fight.
Hernandez took the fight on one week’s notice after Plant’s original opponent, Mexico’s Alan Campa (16-3, 11 KOs), pulled out.
The 31-year-old Hernandez lost a second straight fight. Brazilian middleweight Patrick Teixeira (27-1, 22 KOs) beat him by unanimous decision in his previous bout, an eight-rounder July 29 in Tucson, Arizona.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.