Caleb Plant may face new foe after Trevor McCumby is cut

Caleb Plant is set to face a new opponent on an entirely new card and date following the postponement of an upcoming bout with Trevor McCumby, sources told BoxingScene.

Plant, the former IBF super middleweight titleholder, was reported to have agreed to fight McCumby (28-0, 21 KOs) upon his return, but a cut over McCumby’s right eye led to a postponement of the Aug. 17 card in Orlando.

Although the fight was not announced officially by PBC, Plant (22-2, 13 KOs) took to social media to say he would face McCumby. Sources said the WBA interim super middleweight title bout was billed to be PBC’s first non-PPV Prime Video headliner.

“There was never an official announcement, so there is no new date,” a PBC source told BoxingScene. “We’ll announce Plant’s fight in the coming days, and it’s possibly going to be an entirely new opponent given the severity of McCumby’s cut.”

Plant hasn’t fought since losing a 12-round unanimous decision to David Benavidez in March 2023. Nashville’s 32-year-old Plant became a world titleholder in 2019 after a unanimous decision victory over Jose Uzcategui.

He went on to make three successful title defenses against Mike Lee, Vincent Feigenbutz and Caleb Truax before unifying his 168-pound IBF belt against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez for the undisputed championship in November 2021. Plant fell to Alvarez in an 11th-round stoppage.

Meanwhile, McCumby, a 31-year-old from Glendale, Arizona, has won three straight since ending a near-five-year layoff in May 2023 but is still searching for his first world title shot.

McCumby returned from his hiatus to stop Vicente Rodriguez in five and, one month later, Rodolfo Martinez in the first round. Most recently, in January, McCumby won a wide 10-round unanimous decision over Christopher Pearson.

Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” back 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].