Trevor McCumby Predicts a victory by knockout over Caleb Plant Tonight in their fight for the WBA interim super middleweight title in Las Vegas.
(Credit: Ryan Hafey & Rey Del Rio/Premier Boxing Champions)
The unbeaten McCumby (28-0, 21 KOs) knows what he’s up against fighting the more experienced former IBF 168-lb champion Plant (22-2, 13 KOs), and he’s got to stay focused during the first six rounds. That’s when Plant is at his best and a nightmare for almost anyone.
McCumby says he wants to rough up Plant, get him up against the ropes, and land some big shots on him. Plant stresses out when he sees his own blood and does not fight well under those circumstances. He goes into panic mode and weakens like a battery.
“It’s going to be huge. I don’t think anybody here likes him,” said Trevor McCumby about Caleb Plant. “I’m going to break him down and cave him in,” said McCumby when asked how he’s going to beat Plant. “Fireworks, and my hand is going to be raised.”
Fans don’t like the idea of Plant taking a long 18-month break, selecting McCumby as his opponent, and talking about his hope of getting a rematch with Canelo Alvarez. Plant has lost two out of his last three fights and should have to do a lot more than just beat McCumby to get a rematch with Canelo.
If Plant were to be picked out by Canelo for a lucrative second fight, he would be marching into it with a 2-2 record in his last four fights. That’s not good enough to meet with King Canelo. If Plant wants a rematch, he needs to do more than beat McCumby.
“A lot of people don’t me. The ones that do know what’s up, but a lot of people don’t know me. There’s not a lot of tape on me,” said McCumby to Fighthype. “Even the tape you can find, you’re going to see a lot of fights earlier in my career. I’m a totally different fighter now.”
The fans who were curious enough about McCumby to watch highlights of his last fight against Christopher Pearson on January 31st saw a lot of vulnerability in that fight. McCumby’s power is top-notch, far better than Plant’s, but his defense is missing. That’s got to be the reason Plant chose him.
“It’s not going to affect how I fight. That’s the one thing I want Caleb to know. His posting about me, I’m flattered. Him posting about me all over, that’s so cool. I appreciate it. It kind of got to me a little bit,” said McCumby. “Trying to discredit my amateur career, trying to discredit me as a man, saying I’m lying about things.”
Plant has been downgrading McCumby all throughout the build-iup to the fight, which is kind of weird because fans already have no clue who he is.
When you’re fighting an unknown that you are hand-picked as Plant did with McCumby, you have to build him up because fans naturally see the fight for what it is: a cherry pick. Plant didn’t do that. He downgraded McCumby, which made fans feel that it’s just another one of Plant’s carefully selected opponents like the ones he chose to build his record.
Plant should have chosen a better-known guy to get fans interested in his fight and give him credit if he won. If Plant had chosen David Morrell, David Benavidez, Christian Mbilli, Osleys Iglesias, or Diego Pacheco, fans would be all over the fight.
“It does give me a little bit of motivation. I want to put this dude down. Yeah, that’s pretty safe to say,” said McCumby when asked if he intends to win by knockout against Plant. “I’m looking to rough him up, really rough him up.”
McCumby has got to knock Plant out because he’s the B-side in this fight, and if it’s even remotely close tonight, he’ll likely come up short with the judges’ scores. Plant is well known due to his fights with Canelo Alvarez and David Benavidez.
It doesn’t matter that he was blown out in both fights. He’s still the name, which could be bad news for McCumby if he fails to knock him out.
“His experience. He’s dangerous in the early rounds. So, I’ve got to keep my head on a swivel and make sure I use my feints,” said McCumby about what he must worry about against Plant. “Use a lot of feints. I got to jab him to the chest and just do what I do,” said McCumby.
Plant’s experience is minimal. He’s only fought two world-class fighters, Canelo Alvarez and David Benavidez, and he lost to both.
Other than those fighters, Plant’s best wins were against these ham & eggers: Vincent Feigenbutz, Mike Lee, Anthony Dirrell [38 years old], and Jose Uzcategui. The remaining guys Plant has fought have been sublevel fighters not ranked in the top 15. Plant does have experience, but not the good kind that you’d like to see.
“I just want big fights. At this point in my career, I want to be tested, and I want to have great competition. This is a beautiful sport. There are a lot of guys who are not fighting enough or not taking big fights. I’m down to take big fights at 168. I can see myself going to 175. I fought a lot of my career at 175. So I could go back up,” said McCumby.
It would be a bad idea for McCumby to go up to 175 because he gets hit too easily, and he doesn’t have the size or the chin to compete with the fighters in that weight class. Christopher Pearson had McCumby hurt in their fight earlier this year on January 31st, and he’s not a big puncher or a top-level guy.
“I would like to make a little dent at super middleweight and then move up. I think that would be a great fight. We both sparred about ten years ago. It was great. Oh yeah,” said McCumby when asked if his sparring with David Benavidez was competitive. “A lot of people there were like, ‘I would have paid PPV for this.’ It was legit.”
David Benavidez won’t be fighting McCumby. That guy is at 175, trying to reinvent himself, and not looking good. Unless things fall apart for him, he won’t bother with McCumby, especially if he stays at 168 instead of moving up to 175.
“Him and I would be a great fight. I would love that fight. Tune in. We’re going to steal the show for sure,” said McCumby about his clash tonight against Caleb Plant.
It won’t be difficult for Plant-McCumby to steal the show tonight because the main event fight between Canelo Alvarez and Edgar Berlanga is considered a mismatch along the same lines as his 2021 fight against his old sparring partner Avni Yildirim, who he knocked out in three rounds.
Confidence is Key 🔑
Trevor McCumby had some strong words to say about @SweetHandsPlant
Do you think he wins?#CaneloBerlanga | Sep 14 | Live on DAZN: Click link in bio to buy 🥊 pic.twitter.com/jiovwblKwv
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) September 13, 2024
Read the full article here
