The planned fight on the August 17 bout between Caleb Plant versus Trevor McCumby, scheduled for streaming on the Amazon Prime network has been canceled. A non-PPV event organized by the company known as Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) has been criticized for the low promotional campaign and what the public may perceive to be their low expectations of the bout. Most of the viewers were hardly informed that Caleb Plant, the former IBF super middleweight champion, was in training for it.
Trevor McCumby, 28-0, 21 KOs, received an injury while training and thus will not be available next month. As far as a replacement for McCumby is concerned, there has been no signal coming from PBC on that aspect about Caleb Plant’s bout record of 22-2, 13 KOs. These are decisions such as this one, where instead of postponing the whole card, the company has decided to look for a replacement for the fighter.
Nonetheless, a large number of people think that since the fight was relatively unnoticed and did not attract a great deal of attention, PBC should have easily looked for another opponent for Caleb Plant given his necessity to be active and competitive in the boxing ring.
Criticism Over Opponent Selection and Event Management
The Plant-McCumby fight was considered no more than a basic-level fight, and the injury that befell McCumby was in no way should have been the reason for annulling the entire fight event. Some of the critics comment that PBC should have looked forward to getting a more popular replacement instead of McCumby for the fight against Caleb Plant. Other contenders like Demetrius Andrade or Jermall Charlo were proposed as both fighters are out of action for a long time because of reasons linked to the coronavirus crisis and injury, and they might benefit from the opportunity.
If Wilkerson and other coaches with ‘bigger name’ recognition were brought into the event, more people would likely have paid attention to the event on August 17th.
Caleb Plant’s Extended Inactivity and Career Implications
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Caleb Plant has not laced his gloves for a fight since he suffered the twelve-round unanimous decision defeat to David Benavidez on March 25, 2023. This inactivity in the 16 months preceding June asks whether Plant itself has career goals and where the company wants to go. While Plant could still demand another crack at Canelo Alvarez or any other champion, Plant rarely laces up the gloves, and when he does, he faces an obscure fighter like McCumby and therefore moves nowhere in the competitive super middleweight division.
To get a chance at getting paid again and fighting the biggest name of the division, Canelo Alvarez, Caleb Plant has to be active and face better competition. His first bout which took place in November 2021 was beneficial for him in terms of earnings. This earned him Canelo’s expression of interest in a rematch. However, the period of inactivity and playing the lesser-ranked boxers is not helping achieve Caleb’s goal.
It is apparent that the only way Plant can continue to be a contender in one of the major promotions and get the attention of the current champions is through more frequent and rigorous fights. The cancellation of the McCumby fight coupled with the criticism of the fight as being a low-profile fight shows a lot of shortcomings in the planning and execution that is needed from Plant and the team that works with him. Partnering with some of the big box offices in this division will boost Caleb Plant’s exposure while giving him the push needed for another crack at the belt.
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