Trevor McCumby predicts a knockout victory over Caleb Plant Tonight in their fight for the WBA interim super middleweight title in Las Vegas.
(Credit: Ryan Hafey & Rey Del Rio/Premier Boxing Champions)
Undefeated McCumby (28-0, 21 KOs) knows what he’s up against against the more experienced former IBF 168-lb champion Plant (22-2, 13 KOs), and he needs to stay focused throughout the first six rounds. That’s when Plant is at its best and a nightmare for almost anyone.
McCumby says he wants to rush Plant, get him against the ropes and land some big shots on him. Plant stress when he sees his own blood and does not fight well under those conditions. He goes into panic mode and weakens like a battery.
“It’s going to be big. I don’t think anybody here likes him,” Trevor McCumby said of Caleb Plant. “I’m going to break him down and catch him up,” McCumby said when asked how he was going to beat Plant. “Fireworks, and my hand is going to be raised.”
Fans don’t like the idea of Plant taking a long 18-month break, choosing McCumby as his opponent and talking about his hopes of getting a rematch with Canelo Alvarez. Plant has lost two of his last three fights and will have to do a lot more than just beat McCumby to get a rematch with Canelo.
If Plant were to be picked by Canelo for a lucrative second fight, he would go into it with a 2-2 record in his last four fights. It’s not good enough to meet with King Canelo. If Plant wants a rematch, he needs to do more than beat McCumby.
“A lot of people don’t, I don’t. Those who do know what’s going on, but many people don’t know me. There’s not a lot of tape on me,” McCumby said Battle hype. “Even the tape you can get, you’re going to see a lot of fights earlier in my career. I’m a totally different fighter now.”
The fans curious enough about McCumby to watch highlights of his last fight against Christopher Pearson on Jan. 31 saw a lot of vulnerability in that fight. McCumby’s power is top notch, much better than Plant’s, but his defense is lacking. That must be why Plant chose him.
“It’s not going to affect the way I fight. That’s the one thing I want Caleb to know. His post about me, I was flattered. Him posting all over me, that’s so cool. I appreciate it. It affected me a little bit,” McCumby said. “I’m trying to discredit my amateur career, discredit me as a man and say I’m lying about things.”
Plant has been downgrading McCumby throughout the build up to the fight, which is kind of odd because fans already have no idea who he is.
When you’re fighting a hand-picked unknown like Plant did with McCumby, you have to build him up because fans naturally see the fight for what it is: a cherry pick. Plant didn’t do that. He downgraded McCumby, which left fans feeling like it was just another one of Plant’s carefully selected opponents like the ones he picked to build his record.
Plant should have picked a better known guy to keep fans interested in his fight and give him credit if he won. If Plant had picked David Morrell, David Benavidez, Christian Mbilli, Osleys Iglesias or Diego Pacheco, fans would be all over the fight.
“It gives me some motivation. I want to put this guy down. Yeah, that’s pretty safe to say,” McCumby said when asked if he intended to win by knockout against Plant. “I’m looking to shake him up, really shake him up.”
McCumby needs to knock out Plant because he’s the B side in this fight, and if it’s even remotely close tonight, he’ll probably come up short on the judges’ scores. Plant is well known because of his fights with Canelo Alvarez and David Benavidez.
It doesn’t matter that he was blown out in both fights. He is still the name, which could be bad news for McCumby if he fails to knock him out.
“His experience. He is dangerous in the early rounds. So, I have to keep my head on a swivel and make sure I use my grit,” McCumby said of what he has to worry about against Plant. “Use a lot of feints. I have to stab him in the chest and just do what I do,” McCumby said.
Plant’s experience is minimal. He has only fought two world class fighters, Canelo Alvarez and David Benavidez, and he lost to both.
Other than those fighters, Plant’s best wins have been against this ham and eggs: Vincent Feigenbutz, Mike Lee, Anthony Dirrell (38 years old) and Jose Uzcategui. The remaining guys that Plant fought were sub-level fighters that weren’t ranked in the top 15. Plant does have experience, but not the good kind you’d like to see.
“I just want big fights. At this point in my career, I want to be tested, and I want big competition. It is a beautiful sport. There are a lot of guys who don’t fight enough or don’t take big fights. I’m down to take big fights at 168. I can see myself going to 175. I fought a lot of my career at 175. So I was able to go back,” says McCumby.
It would be a bad idea for McCumby to go up to 175 because he gets hit too easily, and he doesn’t have the size or the chin to compete with the fighters in that weight class. Christopher Pearson hurt McCumby in their fight earlier this year on January 31st, and he’s not a big puncher or a top-level guy.
“I would like to make a small dip at super middleweight and then move up. I think it will be a great fight. We both saved about ten years ago. It was wonderful. Oh yeah,” McCumby said when asked if his sparring with David Benavidez was competitive. “A lot of people there were like, ‘I would have paid PPV for this.’ It was legal.”
David Benavidez will not fight McCumby. That guy is at 175, trying to reinvent himself, and not looking good. Unless things fall apart for him, he won’t bother with McCumby, especially if he stays at 168 instead of moving up to 175.
“He and I will be a big fight. I would love that fight. Call in. We’re going to steal the show for sure,” McCumby said of his matchup against Caleb Plant tonight.
It won’t be difficult for Plant-McCumby to steal the show tonight as the Canelo Alvarez-Edgar Berlanga main event is considered a mismatch in the same vein as his 2021 fight against old sparring partner Avni Yildirim, who he knocked out have. in three rounds.
Trust is the key
Trevor McCumby had some strong words to say about @SweetHandsPlant
Do you think he wins?#CaneloBerlanga | 14 Sep | Live on DAZN: Click link in bio to buy
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