Hot Takes From A Cold Heart

     Welcome to Hot Takes from a Cold Heart, a planned recurring feature that fires dead on with opinions that aren't always popular.

I've never been a huge fan of Caleb Plant, although I've gained respect for Plant in recent years.

Plant dropped a surprising split decision to Armando Resendiz (due to my grandmother's passing, there was no boxing challenge that week) and showed why moving away from tough competition during a fighter's development doesn't hurt them only during the early stages of their career.

Plant was never tested (other than in his title win over Jose Uzcategui), building his career, and even in his title defenses, he faced soft touches such as diet pitchman Mike Lee and the legendary Vincent Feigenbutz, which ill-prepared Plant for bigger and better opponents.

Plant fought bravely against Canelo Alvarez and David Benavidez, and both are better fighters than Plant, so it's understandable that Plant lost those two fights, but losing to Resendiz was a surprise. There are two reasons why.

The first is that Plant just hasn't fought enough.

Plant has fought once a year every year since 2020, except 2021 when he decisioned Caleb Truax in January and lost to Canelo Alvarez in November, which is still a ten-month layoff.

Plant is a talented boxer who (except for his explosive knockout of the washed-up Anthony Dirrell) lacks the pop to trouble elite fighters such as Alvarez and Benavidez; his boxing skills need to be razor sharp if he is going to have a chance to defeat world-class competition.

Plant cannot be prepared to fight excellent fighters at his peak when he fights so infrequently. Some of that can be blamed on his promoter, PBC, who have similar problems with several fighters under their tent; the fighter always deserves some blame for inactivity.

Plant made millions of dollars for his fight with Canelo Alvarez, so he doesn't have to fight as much or even at all, but by fighting so infrequently, he hurts his chances for success.

The second reason isn't mentioned as often- Plant's lack of challenges as he progressed through the prospect stage not only didn't help him develop then, but it would become a hindrance later in his career.

Plant's only semi-name before winning the IBF title was over a shot Porky Medina and while his title win over Jose Uzcategui was notable at the time, Uzcategui would never defeat a solid opponent after the fight which could have meant that Plant caught him at the right time.

Plant wasn't prepared for a fight against an opponent who would push him to the limit, yet should fall in the end because PBC had matched him so softly.

This would not affect Plant in his losses to Alavrez and Benavidez as those fighters were superior and his win over Anthony Dirrell was a snore-fest decided by one Plant blow that ended the fight, but it could have come into play in his recent loss to Armando Resendiz.

Plant won at least three if not all of the first four rounds but as Resendiz began to win rounds, Plant didn't have any answers on how to turn the fight around against a fighter that he was capable of defeating.

Had Plant been better seasoned before reaching the top of the sport perhaps he would have known what to do against Resendiz when the road got rough.

Caleb Plant had talent and was able to win a world championship and made a big pile of money over his career.

Plant fought with heart and never stopped trying in his defeats, so he won my respect in his losses more than in his triumphs.

Plant isn't the type of talent to dominate a division but he's a solid top five to top eight fighter who could have won a title in a specific situation (he would do just that) .

However, his career could have been even better with opponents who would have tested him more as a younger fighter and staying more active once he reached the top of his division.

Boxing Challenge: Canelo batters Berlanga

   Is it possible to gain in stature without winning a round?

If so, then Edgar Berlanga did so against Canelo Alvarez as he lost every round on my scorecard and a unanimous decision as Alvarez retained his WBA, WBC, and WBO super middleweight titles in Las Vegas.

Berlanga won a few rounds on the official cards (118-109 x2 and 117-110, my score was 120-107). He did exchange some with Canelo but like so many Canelo opponents that talked about attacking Alvarez, Berlanga mostly fought off the back foot and after his knockdown in the third round, the question wasn't about competitiveness, it was if Berlanga would make it to the final bell.

Berlanga never threatened Canelo but fought with courage and showed some skills that might have served him better had he been more experienced against decent opposition.

Still, the name of the game is prizefighting, and earning millions of dollars without taking a risk to reach that stage is excellent management if not proper preparation for the actual fight.

Berlanga could use a fight or two against a contender to prepare for his next challenge and should he face Jaime Munguia, Christian Mbilli, or Diego Pacheco, all would be entertaining affairs that would establish him as a title contender at most and a fun fighter to watch at least.

As for Canelo Alvarez, who really knows where he stands.

I don't see him trying low reward (Although 30 million plus a piece of the pay-per-view for Canelo isn't really low reward) and high-risk mandatory challengers such as Christian Mbilli (WBC) and Diego Pacheco (WBO).

He's refused to fight David Benavidez, David Morrell has moved to light heavyweight, and there is no one of name-value available to move from 160 pounds to face him.

That means it's the winner of next month's light heavyweight unification between Artur Beterbiev (WBC, IBF, and WBO) and Dmitry Bivol (WBA) as the last fighter standing.

Bivol decisioned Alvarez in 2022 and Canelo has stated a desire to avenge that loss.

Bivol might beat you but he's not going to beat you up, while Beterbiev would be an unlikely choice with a victory as he would meet Alvarez in the middle of the ring and fight him as the bigger stronger fighter, placing Canelo in the situation of preferring to face a boxer who has already defeated him

The co-feature was as dreadful as predicted as Erislandy Lara retained his WBA middleweight title when the corner of former junior welterweight and welterweight champion Danny Garcia stopped the fight at the end of round nine.

A fight between two faded fighters who threw few punches and landed fewer with Lara winning the first seven rounds, and Garcia winning the eighth when he stunned Lara before Lara sent Garcia wobbling to the mat similar to King Hippo in the ninth.

Garcia's corner was smart in ending the fight and Garcia should consider ending a fine career.

Lara continues a title reign filled with journeymen and has-beens and I would imagine he'll be back sometime in 2015 against someone else of that ilk.

Caleb Plant recovered from a slow start and a fourth-round knockdown to stop Trevor McCumby in the ninth round in a surprisingly raucous fight to win a minor super middleweight title.

McCumby won the first four rounds on my card and scored a knockdown with a right hand to the shoulder that knocked an off-balance Plant to the floor.

Plant picked up the pace after the knockdown and trailed by only one point (due to the knockdown) after eight rounds.

Plant finished McCumby late in round nine and I was pleasantly surprised with the quality and competitiveness of a fight that I expected to be one-sided.

McCumby showed more than I expected and I would like to see him again against a similar level as for Plant, I was very critical of him during his IBF title reign for his pitiful opponents but I've gained respect for him since his first loss to Canelo Alvarez and his hard-fought defeat to David Benavidez.

I'd like to see Plant against some of these promising young contenders in the division such as  Berlanga, Munguia, Pacheco, or Mbilli.

I think he'd be the logical next step in opposition for any of them, and if they aren't up to snuff, Plant just might upset them.

Former WBC and WBO junior featherweight champion Stephen Fulton's move to the featherweight division almost ended in disaster as Fulton escaped with a razor-close split decision victory over Carlos Castro.

Castro knocked Fulton down in the fifth round and hurt him again in the eighth but Fulton managed to do enough early in the fight to build a lead on the cards and win the narrow decision.

Fulton won on two cards 96-93 and 95-94 with the Castro score at 95-94, I scored 95-94 for Castro and the fight was close enough to not complain about either fighter as the winner.

The fight was the first for Fulton since his July 2023 knockout loss to Naoya Inoue, where he lost both of his junior featherweight titles and it'll be interesting to see how Fulton looks in his next fight.

Boxing Challenge 

Ramon Malpica: 127 Pts (4)

TRS:117 Pts (5)

Vince Samano: 69 Pts (4)

Boxing Challenge: Benavidez batters Plant

   In the lead-up to the super middleweight grudge match between David Benavidez and Caleb Plant, the almost universal thought was that Caleb Plant's only chance to win, he would have to bank the first six rounds and hope to get another round somewhere against the late Benavidez rush to win a close decision.

Plant did well in the early rounds but after the sixth round, he held only a 4-2 lead on my scorecard and I was seeing some cards on Twitter that even had the fight even at 3-3.

Then and there, it was pretty clear that what most people thought entering the fight was going to be accurate- David Benavidez was going to start to break Caleb Plant down, beat him up, and the only question would be if Plant would hear the bell.

Plant lasted the twelve-round distance but took a ferocious beating in the final rounds in doing so as Benavidez kept his minor title by unanimous decision by scores of 115-113, 116-112, and 117-11 in Las Vegas.

I scored Benavidea a 116-112 winner, sweeping the final six rounds of the bout.

Plant showed heart and toughness to achieve that goal but some of that credit could go to referee Kenny Bayless as well, who allowed Plant to grab and hold Benavidez relentlessly and in the eighth round, Plant had been wobbling from Benavidez's right hand, and in danger of being stopped, it was Bayless who stepped in to stop the action to check Plant's forehead.

Plant was ripped open from a clash of heads and provided some impressive bleeding over the final quarter of the fight but a point could be made that without the Bayless interruption that Benavidez may have ended the evening then and there.

Plant gamely battled to the end and deserves credit for that but Benavidez dominated the final three rounds, hurting Plant badly in rounds ten and twelve.

Benavidez naturally called for unified division champion Canelo Alvarez next in the fall and the fight would be a highly anticipated match but Alvarez will have a choice between a rematch of his loss last year to WBA light heavyweight champion  Dmitry Bivol or Benavidez, should he defeat WBO mandatory challenger John Ryder in May as he is heavily favored to do.

If Benavidez isn't the selection, his choice will be whether to take a stay-busy fight against a lower-level contender or risk his shot at Canelo against one of several challenging opponents, all of which are promoted by his promoter, PBC.

Should Benavidez take the more difficult path, he could choose between three undefeated opponents in David Morrell, who like Benavidez holds a minor title in the division, WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo, who would move up in weight for that fight, or former WBO junior middleweight and middleweight titleholder Demetrius Andrade, who recently made his first appearance with PBC.

Benavidez would be a solid favorite against any of the three but all three talented boxers would have a considerable chance of pulling the upset.

As for Plant, whom I've been critical of in the past, the loss was his second in three fights, albeit to the best two fighters in the division, and the fight played out similarly to Plant's three biggest fights (his IBF title win over Jose Uzcategui and his two defeats), Plant wins most or all the early rounds and then like a speedy racehorse going a longer distance for the first time, tries desperately to hold onto the lead.

Against solid fighters such as Uzcategui, that tactic is enough to win but against the elite of the division it hasn't been and I'm not sure it would work against the three fighters listed above.

Plant could take a showcase bout in his next fight or maybe one of the three opponents mentioned, any of which I would favor over Plant.

Plant has proven his toughness and ability in his recent defeats but he may simply be a solid contender that isn't up to the task against the best in the world and there's no shame in that.

In the other undercard fights, which I haven't seen yet as I was watching some of the competing cards.

Cody Crowley defeated Abel Ramos in a WBC welterweight eliminator that has been reported to be an excellent fight by majority decision.

Scores for Crowley of 116-112 and 115-113 and even at 114-114.

Jesus Ramos dropped heavily hyped and heavily protected Joey Spencer in the first round and pounded him for the remainder of the junior middleweight ten-rounder before finishing Spencer in a corner with his corner surrendering for him in the seventh round.

Ramos is a possible future star and Spencer is the latest of a boxing idiom- protected fighters are protected for a reason and that reason usually comes on the first occasion that someone fires back.

Chris Colbert won a very controversial unanimous decision over Jose Valenzuela in a lightweight match between two fighters entering the fight after suffering their first loss.

Valenzuela knocked down Colbert in the first round and most seem to believe had the edge but Colbert grabbed the scorecards of all three judges by the same score of 95-94.

I'll be back next time with posting on the other three challenge fights- the main events from ESPN, DAZN, and ProBox.

Boxing Challenge- Only includes the PPV selections

TRS: 37 pts (4)

Ramon Malpica: 31 Pts (3)

Vince Samano: 26 Pts (0) 

Boxing Challenge: Haney retains, Wilder returns

   The boxing Saturday is going to have to carry the next two weeks in the sport as the schedule lightens until the final weekend of the month but the world lightweight championship was at stake and the return of a former heavyweight champion in desperate need of a spectacular win, so it was more than adequate to help boxing fans make it to the end of the month.

In Melbourne, Australia, Devin Haney retained his world lightweight championship with a unanimous decision in his rematch with George Kambosos.

I'll sum this fight up in this manner, George Kambosos tried harder, fought better, and the rematch was a more exciting fight and none of it mattered because Devin Haney dominated equally as much as in their first affair, winning a unanimous decision by scores of 119-109 and two tallies of 118-110.

I scored Haney the easy winner at 118-110.

Haney landed his jab at will and ripped Kambosos with counter rights that caused Kambosos to bleed impressively from a cut over his left eye that Kambosos had to fight through along with a cut over his right eye, which was cut from a late clash of heads that cut Haney as well.

It was a needed step for Haney to complete his obligation to Kambosos for a rematch few outside of Australia wanted to see and move on to an anticipated fight against Vasyl Lomachenko, should Lomachenko win his fight over Jamaine Ortiz in two weeks.

Haney may not be the most exciting fighter but he is so technically sound and considering that many with such skills are dreadfully dull, I think Haney isn't dull by any means.

Haney will likely move to junior welterweight after a potential defense against Lomachenko and he should fit in very well in a loaded 140-pound division.

In the co-feature bantamweight, Jason Moloney moved himself into the WBC mandatory challenger position with a unanimous decision over Nawaphon Kaikanha in an eliminator.

Moloney won by scores of 119-109 and 118-110 twice, which was the same score as mine.

Moloney will likely be involved in 2023 for the title expected to be vacated by Naoya Inoue after Inoue unifies (expected to anyway) all four bantamweight belts against Paul Butler (WBO champion) in December.

Inoue knocked out Moloney in seven rounds in October 2020 to retain the WBA and IBF titles and Inoue has since added the WBC belt to his collection.

In Brooklyn, New York, former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder returned to the ring for the first time since his second loss to Tyson Fury and won his first fight since November 2019 with a first-round knockout of Robert Helenius in a WBC eliminator.

It only took one concussive right from Wilder, who landed it as Helenius pressed the action, trapping Wilder in a corner before he ran into the counter bomb.

Helenius was never in danger of getting up and once again, Deontay Wilder shows that for all the flaws in his game that there may not be a bigger puncher in all of boxing for one shot power and if you make one mistake the fight could end.

Wilder will now fight in another WBC eliminator to decide the mandatory challenger for champion Tyson Fury against fellow PBC boxer and former champion Andy Ruiz in what could be a very interesting match

I haven't seen the undercard fights but I have seen the one-punch knockout by former IBF super middleweight champion Caleb Plant over former WBC champion Anthony Dirrell in the ninth round and give Plant credit for ending conclusively a fight that reports say was a very boring first eight rounds.

While it was an incredible knockout, Plant's behavior in pantomiming a gravedigger shoveling dirt on a still-fallen Dirrell was in very poor taste.

I've never been a Plant fan but this was beyond awful after a devastating knockout with the opponent still down and his safety unknown at the time.

For all of Plant's title defenses and Dirrell's shopworn condition ( and Dirrell should now consider retirement with a record of 1-2-1 over his last four fights with the draw being very questionable against Kyrone Davis and being stopped by Plant and David Benavidez), Dirrell is the best name on his resume' and I'd love to see Plant against David Benavidez next.

However. Benavidez will face Jose Uzcategui in January in a fight few want to see.

Ironically, Uzcategui, a former IBF champion, was the biggest win in Caleb Plant's career with Plant winning the title from him in January 2019.

Heavyweight Frank Sanchez stopped veteran Carlos Negron in nine rounds and in a mild surprise former IBF bantamweight champion Emmanuel Rodriguez dominated Gary Antonio Russell in winning a unanimous decision after ten rounds in a WBA and IBF eliminator.

Rodriguez was fighting Russell for the second time after their first fight ended after sixteen seconds after the two smashed their heads together and it was a head clash that ended this after the two collided in the ninth round with the fight being stopped a few seconds into the tenth to go to scorecards.

Rodriguez knocked Russell down in the eighth and won on all three cards convincingly at 100-90, 99-91, and 99-93 to likely be involved in one of the vacant title chases, should Naoya Inoue vacate next year.

Rodriguez was stopped in two rounds by Inoue, losing his IBF title in a World Boxing Super Series semi-final.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 175 Pts  (9)

Ramon Malpica: 151 Pts (9)

Vince Samano:140 Pts  (6)  

Boxing Challenge: Canelo Cuts Down Plant

    Canelo Alvarez knocked out Caleb Plant in the eleventh round to add the IBF title to the other three titles that he already held entering the fight and become the undisputed super middleweight champion.

Plant, like Billy Joe Saunders before him, did have some early success boxing off his back foot as Alvarez started in his usual slow manner against world-class opponents.

But I didn't think the fight was as close as some did (on Twitter, I saw some that had the fight very close and even an occasional person that had Plant leading into the eleventh) and with Alvarez continuing to attack and pound Plant to the body, it appeared that the biggest question would be could Plant make it to the final bell.

Canelo knocked Plant down with a snapping right uppercut and after Plant rose courageously but hurt, Canelo chased Plant around the ring with Plant running away with a hop that brought to mind the hop of Joe Frazier just before he was stopped by George Foreman in 1973 and fired a volley of shots that sent Plant tumbling to the floor where the fight was then stopped.

I had Alvarez ahead 97-93 at the time of the stoppage.

For Canelo, he has several options for his next fights and all are of interest.

Should Canelo decide to work with PBC, a fight with David Benavidez would be a guaranteed crowd-pleaser and Benavidez has the size of Plant combined with the power Plantt lacks, so that would be a fight I'd love to see.

PBC also could offer a match with WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo, but Charlo has been more interested in talking about strong competition than actually fighting them.

Still, the cash-in for a Canelo fight would likely be too much for Charlo to turn away.

Canelo seems to like Eddie Hearn and Matchroom but their top option would be a third fight with IBF middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin and Canelo seems to have next to no interest in that.

WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade would love a shot but he's a mover and Canelo may want to face someone that will exchange with him after fighting boxers in Saunders and Plant in his last two fights.

Matchroom could also offer WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol but Bivol isn't the most exciting fighter and unless Bivol wants to drop to 168 or Canelo wants to rise to light heavyweight, that's unlikely.

Should Canelo be willing to work with ESPN/Top Rank, the fight that many fans would love to see is a fight against WBC and IBF light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and might be the biggest test of all-a naturally larger man and the best puncher in the division.

This may be the most unlikely fight to make as Canelo's track record shows that while he is willing to fight everyone, he will do so when at his best advantage as he did making Golovkin wait for both their first fight and second affair.

WBO light heavyweight champion Joe Smith is another big puncher that might make a fun fight against Canelo and wouldn't run from him but Canelo's boxing skills would likely be too much for Smith.

As for Plant, while he proved he did have world-class skills, his lack of competition didn't prepare him well for a fight of this magnitude and I would guess he will go back to PBC for lopsided affairs.

Plant against David Benavidez would make sense with two talented young fighters but Plant wasn't interested in putting his fight with Canelo in jeopardy so I can't imagine Benavidez putting his chance in peril now.

My best bet would be almost used up veteran Anthony Dirrell, who scored an undercard win against journeyman Marcos Hernandez, for Plant's next foe.

Dirrell likely won't catch Plant, would give him a few lessons that Plant should have already learned, has a recognizable name, and someone Plant would likely defeat. 

Boxing Challenge: Plant shuts out Truax

   In a fight where almost everything that was predicted happened (other than if you predicted a late-round stoppage like I did), Caleb Plant defended his IBF Super Middleweight title via a unanimous decision over Caleb Truax.

I thought Plant won every round (120-108) and although he never seriously hurt Truax, Plant busted Truax up around both eyes and had he not injured his left hand as he claimed after the fight, may have scored the stoppage.

I've made my points several times about the lousy quality of Plant's opponents in the past and the shopworn Truax didn't boost that very much, but let's look at the good things about Plant.

Plant is very skilled, has quick hands, isn't easy to hit, and may be a difficult opponent for the best of the division (Canelo Alvarez, David Benavidez, Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders) to handle.

The problem for me and it's the most difficult part for me to get past with Caleb Plant is the competition level and it's for two reasons.

The first is that it makes me wonder about what his team and promoters know about him and are they protecting him for one big cash-in?

I don't claim to know the answer to that question, we will find that out in a possible fall fight against Canelo Alvarez, as Plant would be silly to face a strong opponent now with the Canelo payday on the horizon, but there are legitimate questions to answer for the Tennessee native.

How will Plant react in such a fight when it becomes needed to vary his attack, battle through getting hurt or fight a hard twelve rounds against someone capable of defeating him?

Part of developing a fighter is testing them against opponents that may not defeat them but can challenge them and force them to answer various questions that all fighters must answer.

Caleb Plant's team has developed a talented world champion who is going to make a lot of money and if that is the success that you are looking for then they have done their job well.

However, if your goal is to best prepare your fighter to win that big fight once that opportunity comes along, they may have come up far short.

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica earned two points to my one from the Plant-Truax fight and cut my early season lead to 6-5.

Looking forward to two weeks from tonight to really get the boxing season out of the blocks with two very good cards from DAZN/Golden Boy and ESPN/Top Rank!

Boxing Challenge: Ryan Garcia dazzles!

The boxing challenge for this week saw four fights filled with interesting, if predictable results.

Friday night in Anaheim, California saw Ryan Garcia deliver an impressive first-round knockout of former world title challenger Francisco Fonseca.
Garcia blasted Fonseca with one counter left hook that sent Fonseca to the floor and when Fonseca's head thumped off the mat, the fight was immediately stopped.
Ryan Garcia has now stopped his two toughest opponents in the first round and is beginning to convert some non-believers.
Garcia will be tested in the future, but even the most fervent skeptic has to be impressed with his last two wins.

And that test might come in Ryan Garcia's next fight against former three-division champion Jorge Linares, who might have been the most impressive winner of the weekend had Garcia not been so explosive, as Linares stopped Carlos Morales in the fourth round.
Morales had lost a very competitive majority decision to Garcia last year, but was confounded by the attack of the always-smooth Linares, who dropped Morales in the third before completing the task in the fourth.
Garcia-Linares is a fight that I am excited about and could go either way.
I can see Linares and his elite skills baffling Garcia and teaching the young prospect a few tricks and winning, but I can also see that happening and the paper-mache' jaw of Linares (Linares has lost five times by stoppage) gives out for a Garcia win.
Garcia-Linares should be a good one.

And then there's PBC on Fox with another "Ahem" thrilling Caleb Plant domination of a no-hoper to defend his IBF super-middleweight title, this time with a tenth round knockout of mandatory contender Vincent Feigenbutz in Plant's hometown of Nashville.
Plant dominated the lumbering German, won every round on my card and was rarely hit in return.
Plant is very skilled and could be a handful for anyone at 168, but still has only one win over anyone in the top 25 and for his talk of wanting to "face anyone", hasn't seemed remotely interested in actually fighting them.

The co-main was nothing special until the final half-minute as welterweight Bryant Perrella built a huge lead on the scorecards until he was floored by a vicious uppercut by Abel Ramos.
Perrella barely rose and soon was sent to the canvas again, but a badly hurt Perrella got up by referee Jack Reiss called off the fight with one second to go in the fight.
Perrella was in very bad shape and usually, I wouldn't have had an issue with the stoppage as the fighter wasn't likely to stand up under more punishment.
However with one second to go, Ramos wasn't going to land any punches, Perrella was going to win the fight on the scorecards and it seemed a bit unfair to me.
I'm not buying the referee shouldn't hold that into account either, the ten-second thump on the mat is used for a reason, which is why I think it was a bad call.

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica and each scored five points on the week.
I lead the challenge 29-25.

Boxing Challenge: Title Fight Joke, Contenders win.

Part two of the boxing challenge discusses the matches that I didn't have a chance to watch quickly and we start with the live bout shown on Fox as part of the PBC preview for the Pacquiao-Thurman card as Caleb Plant defended his IBF super middleweight title for the first time with a third-round crushing of undeserving challenger Mike Lee.
Plant dropped Lee once in the first and finished Lee off after three more knockdowns in the third.

I have been critical of Caleb Plant for his boring style and kid gloves handling by his promoter, but he impressed me with his title victory over Jose Uzcategui and even though he proved nothing as he blew out Lee, who had never fought anyone approaching even a fringe contender and hadn't fought in thirteen months, I was glad to see Plant do what fighters do against overmatched opponents- take them out quickly and look great doing it.
I wrote when Plant won his title that I foresaw several undistinguished opponents in his reign before he would eventually have to face a quality opponent and the defense against Lee wasn't a good start to making me incorrect, but I would like to see Plant against someone better and gauge just what type of boxer he is.
Hopefully, his promoters will have some faith in him and give us a better opponent than a Mike Lee type in his second defense to see where he stands in the division.

The bigger joke was the IBF, who usually is the most reasonable of the sanctioning bodies, stamping this mismatch with their approval as a title fight.
Considering the above notes with Mike Lee having never faced anyone remotely considered a ranked fighter, had fought at light heavyweight rather than super middleweight and hadn't fought in a year, this was a joke of a title event with PBC at fault for making this match and the IBF even more so for sanctioning it.
If PBC wanted to showcase Plant on the free portion of the card against Lee- Fine, do so as an over the weight non-title fight at light heavyweight and avoid cheapening the title with mismatches such as these.
Champions often face fighters that aren't in their class, but to face someone of the stature of Lee should not be stood for by the sanctioning body.
Call me a crusty purist, but I think more of the "true" championships than this.

Yordanis Ugas scored a first-round knockdown as the ropes kept former WBC lightweight champion Omar Figueroa from falling to the mat and bullied the smaller man throughout the fight to win a unanimous decision as the top supporting bout on the Pacquiao-Thurman card.
Only a fifth-round point deduction for holding kept Ugas from a perfect scorecard as I had him winning every round (119-107) over Figueroa, who lost for the first time in his career.
Ugas will be the WBC's mandatory challenger for the winner of the Shawn Porter-Errol Spence unification fight in the fall and Ugas lost a controversial decision to Porter ( I scored the fight a 114-114 draw) back in March, so he'll be a deserving challenger.
As for Figueroa, who once looked to become a possible star with an exciting style before inactivity slowed his ascent, I'm not sure where he goes from here despite only one defeat.
Figueroa didn't look strong enough to compete with the top welterweights and I'm not sure he could make the junior welterweight limit of 140, so he may be in quite the career pickle.

I still have Luis Nery's knockout of Juan Carlos Payano in the queue, so I'll update this after I have had the time to watch that one from the PBC card.

In London, the Matchroom/DAZN main event saw Dillian Whyte dominate most of the fight before being knocked down by an Oscar Rivas uppercut in the ninth round.
Rivas hurt Whyte after Whyte lifted himself off the floor, but by the end of the round, Whyte had begun to battle back and moved back into controlling the remaining three rounds.
Whyte's win earned him a minor WBC belt, but more importantly, became the mandatory contender for the WBC's real title that is held by Deontay Wilder.
I scored Whyte an easy 117-110 winner (10-2 minus the knockdown) and I think his challenge of Wilder will be a good one, win or lose as Whyte's fights usually are filled with action and even when they are a step down in action, Whyte has a flair for the dramatic as he showed in this win over Rivas.

Boxing Challenge: Plant dethrones Uzcategui

Caleb Plant won all the early rounds and took advantage of an off-balance Jose Uzcategui twice to score flash knockdowns that gave him an insurmountable lead on the scorecards before using the boxing version of the "Four Corners" (Phil Ford was unavailable for comment) to run out the clock, upset Uzcategui and take away the IBF super-middleweight title.

Uzcategui won the final five rounds on my scorecard, but the knockdowns put him so far behind Plant that he won those rounds mainly due to desperate aggression.
Even though Uzcategui knew he needed a knockout to win, he still didn't move his hands enough to seriously hurt Plant, who protected his lead with holding, grabbing, and clutching a frustrated Uzcategui.

Plant's win and performance came as a surprise to me ( I had Plant a 115-111 winner) and I'm still not sold on him in the long run as he seems to be a very beatable champion.
However, he has plenty of room to improve, isn't in an overwhelmingly strong division, and fights for the PBC, which means he'll likely be matched very carefully until an eventual mandatory bout.
My guess is that if Anthony Dirrell (PBC) wins the vacant WBC title over Avni Yildrim, they'll build for a Plant-Dirrell fight in the usual PBC manner in which both fighters will fight two showcase fights and take a year to eighteen months to build for a fight that few are hungering for anyway.

As for Uzcategui, a fighter that was highly thought of by many and avoided by many as well, this was a very disappointing outing and he'll have to start over because he still won't be a likely opponent for top fighters because of his ability when he's at his best.
This was still a setback for Uzcategui, who had a national showcase and the ability to fight fighters from any promotional unit or network and whether due to overconfidence or a lack of preparation, came up lacking on a night that he could have made a huge statement.

In the co-feature, Brandon Figueroa was very impressive in a three-round crushing of Moises Flores in a junior featherweight eliminator.
Figueroa punished Flores from the opening bell and sent him to the floor with a left hook in the third round.
Flores rose but was hit with a volley of punches that culminated with a right hand that dropped Flores into a corner where the referee called off the bout.
Figueroa will now be the mandatory contender for WBA champion Danny Roman in what should be an interesting mix of styles and a very good matchup.
I slightly favor Roman in that one, but it's very close between the pair.

Ramon Malpica and I each start the 2019 boxing challenge with one point for the Brandon Figueroa victory.