All healed up, Trevor McCumby says he will earn Caleb Plant’s respect on September 14

Trevor McCumby says he is in great shape ahead of his super middleweight contest with Caleb Plant on Sept. 14.

McCumby (28-0 (21 KOs) revealed in an interview with BoxingScene that he has now started sparring following a successful eye examination in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“It’s going really well,” he said. “I’m feeling in great shape. I just got done with my eye examination; you know, because I got cut a couple of weeks ago.

“I went to a plastic surgeon here in Vegas who was referred by PBC and he did a wonderful job. It’s healing really well, like I said. I sparred today. The doctor told us we could spar on the 12th. So, we actually waited two more days.” 

McCumby and Plant’s proposed August 17 fight in Orlando, Florida, was postponed after the former suffered a cut over his right eye. The bout has since been moved to the undercard of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. Edgar Berlanga at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on September 14.

The 31-year-old McCumby of Glendale, Arizona, is expected to make his second ring outing this year having recorded three consecutive victories since ending a near five-year layoff in May 2023. McCumby stopped Vicente Rodriguez in five rounds upon his return, and followed this with a first-round KO of Rodolfo Martinez one month later. In January, McCumby won a dominant unanimous decision over Christopher Pearson.

McCumby is currently training with Brandon Woods ahead of the biggest fight of his career against Plant (22-2, 13 KOs), a former IBF super middleweight champ. According to McCumby, he’s happy to be going into the fight as an underdog.

“It’s a huge blessing that I’m still able to get on that stage. It’s awesome. I think God works in mysterious ways and it ended up working out that we’re now fighting on this card and it’s big so it’ll be good. I look at my career and I don’t really regret anything.

“I’ve been an underdog all my career, including during my amateur days. It puts a lot of pressure on Plant and gives me an opportunity to exploit it. I think everything is on him because I’ve got nothing to lose or gain.

“You go to some of these tournaments and they just assume you’re gonna lose.”

Plant, 32, has been out of the ring for 18 months since losing against David Benavidez via unanimous decision in March 2023. The pride of Nashville, Tennessee, he held the IBF 168-pound title for two years and successfully defended the belt three times en route to fighting Saul “Canelo” Alvarez for the undisputed super middleweight championship in November 2021.

When Plant returned 11 months later, he delivered a ninth-round KO win over two-time WBC super middleweight titlist Anthony Dirrell in October 2022. On September 14, Plant is expected to provide McCumby his toughest career test when they go toe to toe.

“I’ve got to go in there and earn respect on September 14,” McCumby said. “I’m gonna have to earn everybody’s respect. I’m not really worried about him. I’m worried about all the training and hard work that I need to do – my main focus is to make a point against Plant. I’m gonna go in there and win. That’s the bottom line. He’s been out for about a year and a half; we’ve all been there. I had a few long lapses in my career. We’ll see how bad he wants it on September 14. It’s gonna be a great fight and I’m going to give my best. I’m coming with the hardest camp I’ve ever been through. We’ve still got four more weeks”.

Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at [email protected].

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