Caleb Plant destroys Lee to retain IBF Super Middleweight title

Unbeaten IBF Super Middleweight champion Caleb Plant did what was expected Saturday night in Vegas and that’s KO challenger Mike Lee in short order.

Plant scored two emphatic knockdowns in the third round to end the scheduled 12 rounder and successfully defend his belt for the first time. He had won the championship in January in a battle with Jose Uzcategui for the vacant championship scoring a 12 round unanimous decision.

Plant who is originally from Tennessee, but now resides in Las Vegas, was anxious to fight in front of his new adopted home turf on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Keith Thurman pay-per-view main event.

He’s now 19 – 0 with 11 KOs and controlled the first two rounds, easily. Plant scored a quick knockdown of Lee with a single left with under :40 seconds to go in round one. It was a preview of what was to come.

After scoring with combinations in round two, it was obvious that Plant was headed to victory barring a lucky punch from Lee. Next, Plant quickly dropped Lee with a right hand 30 seconds into the third round:

#ANDSTILL‼️ @SweetHandsPlant reigns ? as IBF Super Middleweight champ. ??? #PlantLee #PBConFOX pic.twitter.com/GBqn9ROXXx

— PBC (@premierboxing) July 21, 2019

Plant, nicknamed “Sweet Hands” actually scored another knock down with the left, but it was ruled incorrectly a slip by referee Robert Byrd. The 27 year old Plant was undaunted, and finished Lee by catching him coming in off-balance with a hard left. Lee stumbled, fell back over try to get up, and the fight was waved off by Byrd at 1:31 of the third on a TKO.

The loss was the first in 22 Pro fights for Lee who dropped from Light Heavyweight down a weight class to Super Middleweight for the title shot.

Meanwhile, Plant now hopes to get in the picture potentially for a fight down the road with the likes of either Callum Smith of England or maybe even, an ultimate battle with Canelo Alvarez to unified  the168 lb belts.

And for good measure, he let his fans know later in evening that all is good in Plant’s world:

“No marks, no scuffs, no scrapes.” Just another day for the IBF Middleweight Champion @SweetHandsPlant. #PacThurman pic.twitter.com/ruMXgAPPSQ

— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) July 21, 2019