Caleb Plant vs Trevor McCumby: Who Wins?

Is Caleb Plant Still Hungry & Who Is Trevor McCumby?

If you’re asking McCumby, the answer is no. Plant has become comfortable; he’s made a lot of money and doesn’t have the same drive. Plant, of course, has objected to that notion and has promised to make McCumby taste his words.

For those who didn’t grow up in the Arizona boxing scene, most are unaware of McCumby. He’s a seven-time national champion with an amateur record of 127-11. McCumby was also discovered by the late Cameron Dunkin, a legendary manager with one of the sport’s foremost stables. Dunkin, who passed away at 67 in January following a lengthy battle with cancer, discovered Terence Crawford and managed Mikey Garcia, Kelly Pavlik, and more recently, Brandun Lee and Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis. If Dunkin signs you, it means you have talent. Unfortunately, McCumby’s career hit a roadblock in November 2016.

His first-round knockout of Donovan George at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas was overturned to a no-contest after he tested positive for trace amounts of two banned substances in his pre-fight urine test. He was issued an 18-month backdated suspension and fined $3,750. After initially considering retirement, McCumby scored two wins in 2018 and his relationship with then-promoter Top Rank had fizzled out. Following another layoff, McCumby prepared to return to the ring but tore his ACL in sparring, sidelining him for another year.

The Rise Of Caleb Plant & The Revenge Tour

While all of this was happening, Caleb Plant was fighting and—for the most part—winning. The 32-year-old won his first world title after a near-one-year layoff from shoulder surgery with a dominant win over then-titleholder Jose Uzcategui, dropping the champion enroute to a unanimous decision win. Plant followed up with title defenses over Mike Lee, Vincent Feigenbutz, and Caleb Truax before losing to Alvarez.

Despite these accomplishments and shortcomings, inactivity has been an issue for Plant over the last few years. Nearly a year passed between the Feigenbutz and Truax fights; the same was true of the Alvarez fight. After Plant beat Truax in January of 2021, Alvarez fought twice before challenging him for the undisputed championship. The Mexican superstar knocked out Avni Yildirim in an IBF mandatory title defense and destroyed Billy Joe Saunders a few months later—activity matters. Since May of last year, McCumby has had three fights. Plant has none. Furthermore, in two of his previous three fights, Plant has taken quite a bit of damage. McCumby was dropped twice as a light heavyweight prospect but came back to win both of those contests.

Caleb Plant vs. Trevor McCumby Prediction

This appears to be a bridge too far for McCumby on paper. Both of these guys are excellent boxers; they can cut off the ring effectively and land combinations. These guys are similar, quite honestly. The difference is that McCumby has power. We saw Plant send Dirrell to the shadow realm, but he only has 13 knockouts in 24 fights. By taking his voice to YouTube, McCumby got under Plant’s skin enough to send him a contract. Now it’s time to fight. Who wins?

This could be the fight of the night. I’ll take McCumby in an upset split decision. We see weird scores in almost every fight nowadays, so it wouldn’t be entirely egregious to assume that at least one judge will have a bad score but let’s also play out a couple of scenarios.

Should Plant win, he may get a rematch with Alvarez. If McCumby wins, his life and career trajectory will change significantly. He’ll probably pursue a fight with Christian Mbilli and hopefully will make a name for himself in the future. If Plant loses, he’s still popular enough to get another opportunity on an undercard should he choose to keep fighting. For McCumby, it depends on how he loses. If it’s not a close fight, it will be really hard for him. If he drops a close fight, dare we say a controversial one, his stock will rise one way or the other. Either way, as McCumby has been telling fans, this is a fight you won’t want to miss.