By Shawn Smith

You don’t have to look too far to find a negative story about boxing these days. It’s seemingly every week that a boxer is jailed, a judge is dismissed (AIBA, ahem) or a promoter is up to some fishy business.

Caleb Plant isn’t one of those stories.

Born in Ashland City, Tennessee, Plant grew up impoverished and struggling to eat. He used boxing as a way out, winning the 2011 National Golden Gloves championship in the 178lb. division and was an Olympic alternate in 2012.

His hardships didn’t stop there, however. He and his partner Carmen lost their 19-month-old daughter Alia in January of 2015. The ring is his place of solace and he has mentioned frequently how his daughter has served as motivation.

And yet, for all the stresses Plant has faced outside the ring, he’s as calm as could be between the ropes.

Over 10 rounds, Plant dominated Juan De Angel in a completely one sided performance. Final scores were 100-89 across the board in favour of the Tennessean.

Plant eased into the bout, measuring his opponent’s distance and doing just enough to win the first three rounds. His slick head movement and body punches kept De Angel at bay, who offered little resistance throughout.

In the fourth, Plant got a knockdown that De Angel was quick to recover from. From there, Plant stayed in control for the remainder of the bout en route to the unanimous decision.

While it was an impressive performance, with De Angel landing little of substance outside of a headbutt in the eighth round, questions remain about what Plant will look like at the world level. He shut down his overmatched opponent over 10 rounds, but was never able to put him in any serious trouble despite a lack of resistance. He got into first gear early on and never saw a need to do more.

In the co-main event, it was an interesting clash of styles between the sharp counterpuncher in Kareem Martin and non-stop work of David Grayton. Martin used his sharp work early to land effective counter punches, but Grayton worked his way back into the bout during the middle rounds. In the final round, Grayton’s constant work paid off, dropping Martin early and finishing him shortly after.

In the opening bout of the televised card, it didn’t take long for Carlos Gongora to get rid of Ronald Mixon, feinting with a straight right before landing a vicious overhand left that put his opponent down hard. While Mixon argued the finish, it was clear that he was unable to continue. The two-time Olympian took his record to 6-0 (5 KO) with the win.