Armando Resendiz (16-2, 11 KOs) put a whooping on the favorite Caleb Plant (23-3, 14 KOs), battering him with power shots and pressure to capture his WBA interim super middleweight title by a 12-round split decision on Saturday night at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas.
Resendiz vs. Plant Upset
It was supposed to be a showcase, tune-up fight for ‘Sweethands’ Plant to get him ready for a clash later this year against Jermall Charlo. Resendiz, 26, had other ideas, using his youth, power, and his inside game to dominate the former IBF 168-lb champion Plant.
The scores:
116-112: Resendiz
115-113: Plant
116-112: Resendiz
It’s unclear what the judge was thinking when he scored it for Plant, because it was a dominant win for Resendiz. I had it 8-4 for Resendiz.
Plant was bloodied between his eyes in the third round from a left hand from Resendiz, which snapped his head back. It appears that he never came from that round, as it got worse for him as the fight wore on.
In the sixth. Resendiz, 26, unloaded on Plant, hitting him with thudding shots to the head, had him looking ragged and tired. The crowd was clearly pro-Resendiz, who won them over with his Rock-esque aggression.
In the eighth round, the referee, Harvey Dock, gave Resendiz a hard warning for using his head. He’d given him previous warnings. Resendiz appeared frustrated with all the holding that Plant was doing to neutralize his offense. So, he chose to use his head to get Plant to let go of him and stop holding him.
In the championship rounds 9 through 12, Resendiz got the better of Plant with his sharp punches. He was answering back whenever Plant would land anything. Caleb’s trainer, Stephen Edwards, tried to encourage him to fight harder and throw more.
He would nod, but failed to do so. Much of the time, Plant was holding his lead hand far out in front of him to keep Resendiz from attacking, but it wasn’t effective. He needed to be throwing.
After the fight, Plant said he felt that he’d done enough to get the win. When asked about what he’s going to do now that his fight with Jermall Charlo is off, Plant just shrugged his shoulders.
The victory for Resendiz puts him in a position to face Jermall Charlo next. However, it’s unclear if the promoters will want to make that fight. That fight wouldn’t sell the same way a Plant vs. Charlo clash would.
Charlo Stops LaManna
In the chief support bout, Jermall Charlo (34-0, 23 KOs) defeated Thomas LaManna (39-6-1, 18 KOs) by a sixth-round TKO. Fighting for the first time in two years, Charlo looked powerful with both hands, hurting LaManna and dropping him three times. Jermall’s power was vintage tonight. When he would connect, he would get him in trouble.
At the start of the sixth round, the ringside doctor examined LaManna and chose to have the contest halted. Both eyes were injured with blood, and his nose was bruised and in a mess. He would have finished by Jermall right away. if the fight had been allowed to continue.
