Caleb Plant insists Saturday night is strictly business, not a coronation. The former IBF champion turned interim WBA titleholder will defend his belt against Mexico’s Armando Resendiz at Las Vegas’ Michelob ULTRA Arena, topping a PBC on Prime Video quadruple-header. “Maybe one day he’ll be a big dog,” Plant told reporters, “but it ain’t gonna happen on Saturday night. It’s not his time yet.”
Oddsmakers agree. Bet365 pegs Plant as a towering –2400 favorite, with Resendiz languishing at +1120. Yet Plant refuses to coast. A punishing nine-round knockout of Trevor McCumby last September snapped an 18-month layoff and lifted him to 2-2 in his last four, those blemishes suffered only against pound-for-pound royalty Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and David Benavidez. “Every time the bell rings, I put on a show,” Plant said. “Even the fights where I came up short were entertaining.”
With Benavidez now campaigning at light heavyweight and Alvarez flirting with a Terence Crawford megafight, the 168-pound landscape suddenly revolves around Plant’s willingness to fight anyone. Saturday’s bill is designed to funnel him into a grudge match with unbeaten ex-two-division king Jermall Charlo, who meets Thomas “Cornflake” Lamanna in the co-feature. Plant has also name-checked Edgar Berlanga, Diego Pacheco and Hamzah Sheeraz - evidence that he sees himself as the pay-per-view magnet others must chase.
First, though, he must repel Resendiz, a heavy-handed spoiler eager to leapfrog the division’s queue. Plant, now a Las Vegas resident, shrugs at the stakes. “If you’re the main event, that means you’re in a good place,” he said. “I’ve got my title and I plan on keeping it.”
Image Credit: PBC