ARMANDO Resendiz claimed a monumental upset victory over Caleb Plant and, in doing so, has removed much of the lustre surrounding the American’s potential showdown with Jermall Charlo.
The 26-year-old’s stunning split decision win materialised in the small hours of this morning, no doubt leaving fans at the Michelob Ultra Arena, Las Vegas, lost for words.
But before their main event took centre stage, former world champion Charlo, 34-0 (23 KOs), followed his script accordingly, returning from an 18-month layoff to halt Thomas LaManna.
Plant, 23-3 (14 KOs), however, did not play his part to the same degree, almost as if to highlight that such interim fights – designed to drum up interest – rarely go according to plan.
A similar story unfolded earlier last month, when ‘Rolly’ Romero scuppered Ryan Garcia’s hopes of a rematch with Devin Haney.
Joseph Parker, too, was partly responsible for denying Deontay Wilder a mammoth payday against Anthony Joshua when the pair collided in 2023.
And yet, it would seem that Plant’s next assignment could nonetheless be salvaged, as Charlo maintained his interest in their possible grudge match during his post-fight press conference.
But in any case, Resendiz, 16-2 (11 KOs), claimed two 116-112 scorecards – while judge David Sutherland produced a particularly poor reflection of 115-113 in favour of his opponent – to emerge victorious.
To his credit, former world champion Plant had got off to a typically smooth start, firing his lead hand to bank most of the early rounds.
At the same time, though, Resendiz landed several promising body shots before delivering two vicious – and almost identical – combinations upstairs, both of which arriving in quick succession during the third frame.
Still, ‘Sweethands’ continued to utilise his superior movement but, with his opponent piling on the pressure, was unable to maintain his control through six rounds.
At that halfway stage, the Mexican had firmly imposed his strength and aggression while Plant, on the other hand, found himself on unsteady legs after absorbing a spiteful right hand.
From that point onwards, the momentum was emphatically in Resendiz’s favour, as each of the remaining rounds ultimately saw his engine take over.
Plant, meanwhile, was seemingly running on empty as their fight wore on, not so much due to the punishment he had taken but more the hellacious pace that his opponent had set.
In the end, the 32-year-old’s inability to rediscover his early vitality saw Resendiz claim the WBA interim super-middleweight title, even after veteran official Sutherland somehow favoured Plant.
