Caleb Plant said he takes it personally that 14-year-old professional boxer Trevor McCumbee waited until he was 31 to face him in a 12-round fight for the WBA interim super-middleweight title on Sept. 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
(Photo by Alex Sanchez/Premier Boxing Champions)
Is McCumbie’s late jump a sign of doubt?
Plant (22-2, 13 KOs), a former IBF 168-pound champion, sees the move as evidence that McCumby (28-0, 21 KOs) thinks he can beat him, and he feels he can’t.
It’s no surprise that McCumbee thinks he can beat Plant, 32. Plant has lost two of his last three fights and hasn’t fought in a year and a half. Plant isn’t a hard puncher, and McCumbee’s biggest worry is losing by decision.
Plant’s few fights since 2019 have ended in two losses and one near loss, with him running out of steam after the sixth round. If McCumby can win the early rounds, he’ll likely be able to dominate Plant in the later rounds and earn a decision win.
Plante McCumbie will fight on the undercard of the Canelo Alvarez vs. Edgar Berlanga fight, which will be broadcast live on DAZN PPV.
“This is his opportunity. I know he wants to win. If he truly believed in himself, he wouldn’t have waited until he was 28-0 to make that leap. He wouldn’t have waited until he was 31,” Caleb Plant told the media about his upcoming opponent, Trevor McCumby, on Sept. 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Plant’s own confidence
McCumby may lack confidence, but the same could be said for Plant. If he believed in himself, he would have continued to work last year and played against better guys than McCumby. Plant agreeing to this fight says something about him.
“I believe in my skills, that’s why I made the leap in 17 (against Jose Uzcategui in 2019). I came up short against Canelo and David (Benavidez) but I was confident, that’s why I went into the fights,” Plant said.
Uzcategui isn’t a huge leap for Plant, since he’s already lost to Matt Korobov and Andre Dirrell. It’s odd to make so much hype about a fight with Uzcategui, because he wasn’t that good before he fought Plant, and he’s looked just as mediocre since then, losing to Lionel Thompson and Vladimir Shishkin.
“The guy that really believes in himself is usually the guy that comes out on top,” Plant said. “I want his hand to be raised on Sept. 14. That’s the goal, that’s the plan, to show him (McCumby) that he’s at a level.
“I take it personally that he’s waited this long to step up and he picked me to be that first guy to step up. Obviously, he thinks he can beat me by doing that and I take it personally too, so I’m going to prove it to him,” Plant said of McCumby choosing him to step up for the first time in his 14-year career.
McCumby sees Plant the same way many other fighters and fans do: He’s a weak, run-of-the-mill challenger, and the only reason Plant won the belt was because there was a weak paper champion in Uzcategui who held the title.
