Caleb Plant is upset with Trevor McCumby for the trash-talking he’s done toward him, labeling him a “quitter” for the way he gave up in his losses to Canelo Alvarez and David Benavidez. This Saturday, the former IBF super middleweight champion Plant (22-2, 13 KOs) vows that he’s going to show the unbeaten McCumby (28-0, 21 KOs) that he’s a “real gunslinger” when they duel for the WBA interim 168-;b title at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vega, Nevada, live on DAZN.
(Credit: Rey Del Rio/Premier Boxing Champions)
McCumby has been annoyed by the constant issues that Plant, 32, has had and feels he’s too emotional for this line of business. His mind is not calm, and that gets him in trouble.
On Saturday, McCumby says he’s going to take the fight to Plant, wear him down, making him question himself as he did against Canelo, where he talked with him during one of the rounds in what some believed was an attempt to get him to go easy. McCumby feels that Plant will mentally quit, and he’ll knock him out by the eighth or ninth rounds to capture the WBA interim super middleweight title.
“I feel like all fighters cross the line every time they sign the contract with me,” said Caleb Plant to DAZN Boxing when asked if Trevor McCumby has ‘Crossed the line” with him in the build-up to their fight for the WBA interim super middleweight title on Saturday night.
“Any fighter that is in the way of the things I want to accomplish and the things I’ve worked so hard for. I’m 20-something years deep in the game. If you’re in the way of what I’m trying to accomplish, that’s personal for me.”
At this point in Plant’s career, he’s got to be hyper-serious because he’s coming into the match against McCumby with a 1-2 record in his last three fights, and that’s a journeyman type of fighter. Plant wants the rematch against Canelo and the massive payday that comes with it, but he can forget about that if he loses to McCumby on Saturday night.
“On top of that, he’s been calling me a quitter and some other stuff, too,” said Plant about McCumby. “So, it’s definitely added motivation. I think it’s a facade. They told him [McCumby] to wear the hat for the press conference. I think it’s an act. He’s not a real country boy. He’s from the suburbs of Chicao.”
McCumby isn’t the only one who is saying that Plant is a quitter. A lot of boxing fans believe he quit as well against Canelo and Benavidez. It looked like Plant was mentally done after six rounds in both of those fights and was there in body only in the second half of those matches.
“I’m a country boy. I’m a real cowboy,” said Plant, originally from Tennessee. “I’m a real gunslinger. So, when the bell rings, he’s going to find out that there are levels to this. Yeah, 359 rounds since my last fight. That’s obviously staying extremely busy and being in the gym this whole last year.”
Plant is from Nashville, Tennesse, and that’s a big city, no different than Los Angeles or New York. It’s definitely not the country. To be from the country, you have to be in the boondocks, away from civilization. Nashville is a modern city.
“It’s given me time to work on things, work on my craft, and smooth the edges of my game. There’s a silver lining in everything,” said Plant.
