Three little words. That’s all Caleb Plant wants to hear.
No, they’re the not three words that immediately come to mind for most. But if he does hear them, it will be because of his unfailing passion, and they will complete the image that he has had of himself for most of his life. The words are unique to his chosen profession, and ones that only a select few within it get to hear.
“Since I was 9 years old, I’ve thought about this moment every day,” says Plant. “Hearing the words: ‘And the new …’ ‘And the new ...’ ”
The word that will follow, “champion,” is the most important one. But even if it’s said, he won’t be able to hear it on Jan. 13. Neither will most others at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday night. Once the ring announcer says “new” — if he says it at all, that is — a roar will rise from the crowd and drown out everything else. At that same moment, everything will change for Plant, the undefeated super middleweight boxer who was born and raised in Ashland City, Tenn., and has overcome more than his share of personal challenges to get where he is today. (See “Fighting Chance” in the Aug. 4, 2016, issue of the Nashville Scene.)
“It’s definitely been a long road to get here,” Plant says. “There’s been a lot of ups and downs. A lot of good times, but a lot of bad times as well. Just when we think we’re there, there’s been a few setbacks. But we’re here now. We’re excited to be here. I’m feeling confident going in.”
In the main event of a nationally televised fight card presented by Premier Boxing Champions (which will air at 7 p.m. Sunday on Fox Sports 1), Plant will face Venezuelan Jose Uzcategui for the International Boxing Federation super middleweight world championship. It will be his first chance to win a world title, and it comes more than four-and-a-half years after he became a professional boxer.
The 26-year-old, nicknamed “Sweet Hands,” is undefeated (17-0) and has knocked out 10 of his opponents. His past four victories have been unanimous decisions, and in two of those fights, he won every round on each of the three judges’ scorecards. In a third, two of the three judges awarded him every round.
In other words, Plant has often made his route to his current status as the No. 1 contender look easy. His smooth sailing in the ring, however, belies the struggles he faced along the way. Plant was homeless for a time as a teenager. He became a father at a relatively young age, but he lost his daughter, Alia, when she was 19 months old to a rare, insidious condition called AICAR transformylase/IMP cyclohydrolase deficiency. To this day, Plant honors her memory with her likeness and her name on his ring attire.
“Honestly, underneath those lights or in front of that crowd, that’s my comfort zone,” he says. “I feel like that’s my sanctuary. That’s where I do my best.”
The fight with Uzcategui was originally scheduled for the fall, but — as usual for Plant — the fighter was met with something else to overcome. Plant broke his left hand in training, causing a postponement and requiring him to undergo surgery and a lengthy rehab. Uzcategui, who won the title in March, fought someone else instead in September and improved to 28-2 (23 KOs) with a unanimous-decision victory.
As a result, Plant hasn’t fought in almost a year — the last time he was in the ring was Feb. 17, 2018. It’s the longest layoff of his professional career, but he says he never stopped training — or thinking about winning a world championship.
“This is what we’ve trained for since Caleb turned pro,” Plant’s longtime trainer, Justin Gamber, tells the Scene. “This is the direction we’ve been headed the whole time, and this is the biggest fight of our lives. We’ve put in as much work as we could. It’s been smart work, not only hard work.”
If he wins, Plant will join a relatively short list of boxing world champions from Tennessee. “Big” John Tate, who won the WBA heavyweight title in 1979 and lost it in his first defense, lived and trained in Knoxville. Thomas “Hit Man” Hearns, who won multiple world titles, was born in Memphis but was more closely associated with Detroit.
Plant was born and raised in Ashland City, and until two years ago he lived and trained in Middle Tennessee. He relocated to Las Vegas following his Aug. 23, 2016, victory over Juan De Angel, the first main event of his career.
“We’re right here at the doorstep, knocking on it,” Plant says. “Yeah, this moment means the world to me. This is my life’s work, coming down to one moment.
“When I felt like times were getting too hard, when I felt like I couldn’t go anymore, the thing that was keeping me going was closing my eyes and picturing them announcing ‘And the new …’ ”
