Caleb Plant is definitely back.
A year after his first loss of his career to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, the 30-year-old returned to the ring for the WBC super middleweight title eliminator on Saturday against Anthony Dirrell, seeking a ninth-round ‘statement’. arrived.
“I was in complete control the whole time,” Plant (22-1) said after dropping the former champion with a left hook. “Then boom, honey!”
Caleb Plant (right) knocked out Anthony Dirrell in the ninth round on Saturday night
“Boom” might be an understatement. The fight wasn’t exactly smooth, but nothing in the first eight rounds predicted Plant’s thunderous blow to Dirrell’s forehead in the ninth.
Dirrell (34-3-2) fell backwards to the canvas and lay motionless for a moment as referee Harvey Dock announced the end of the game. Meanwhile, you could see Plant gesturing in celebration as concerned onlookers focused on Dirrell, who would eventually rise to his feet, insisting he was okay.
When asked to comment on the replay prior to Saturday’s main event between Deontay Wilder and Robert Helenius, Plant said, “I see a boom, a big boom and goodnight, honey.”
Caleb Plant celebrates after knocking out Anthony Dirrell in the ninth round
Caleb Plant made a big comeback after his first career defeat a year ago
The win, as emphatic as it was, may not be enough to generate a lucrative rematch against Alvarez. But Plant has paved the way for possible encounters with undefeated David Benavidez, or current WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo, if he’s willing to move up to super middleweight.
“I’m ready for anything,” Plant said. “I’m going to spend some time with my family, but then I’ll be ready for the biggest fights we can make.”
Plant was landing Dirrell early, although neither fighter could claim they had any real momentum in the first four rounds.
The few action points that occurred came when Dock intermittently separated the two.
The action intensified in the fifth after Plant landed a big left on Dirrell, tripping the 38-year-old. But Dirrell didn’t back down, challenging Plant along the ropes, connecting with a series of combinations.
The boxers fell to the canvas several times during the fight, which was just before the KO. used to be
Plant had to be pulled from Dirrell after knocking him out with a left hook on the ninth round
Plant ended the frame by triumphantly raising his arms, as if to prove he was unaffected by the exchange, which seemed good enough to give the round to Dirrell.
Dirrell offered some theater of his own in the sixth, mocking Plant by pretending to walk away from him at the end of the lap. Instead of chasing the playful Dirrell, Plant did a little dance on his way back to his corner.
The two tried to fight again in the seventh and eighth rounds, but kept getting tangled, causing the boxers to fall to the canvas twice.
Dirrell grew increasingly frustrated with the ninth round complications after landing a solid combination on Plant but had to wait for Dock to pry the two apart again.
His night ended shortly afterwards.
Although Plant disapproved of Dirrell both before and after Saturday’s fight, the win remains one of his career highlights.
Dirrell’s resume includes a 2016 win over Caleb Truax, who won the full game against Plant in January 2021. He also recovered from his 2015 defeat to Badou Jack with a unanimous decision win in Marco Antonio Rubio’s swan song later that year.
But his rise through the super middleweight standings derailed in 2019 when his corner threw in the towel against Benavidez. His 2021 wasn’t much more impressive, with a tie against Kyrone Davis and a fourth round knockout of mediocre Marcos Hernandez on the Plant-Canelo undercard.
So Plant wasn’t the only former champion fighting Saturday night in Brooklyn to stay in the title picture at 168 pounds.
At the end of the night, however, it was Plant and not Dirrell who remained in contention for a super middleweight crown.
“This win felt good,” Plant said. “You’ve heard how much he hates me, but my head and my heart won me this fight. I was in control the whole time. My coach told me to be patient and take it easy and that’s what we did. Then, boom!’