"I'm an artist and boxing has given me an identity and self worth and this is how I express myself. I'm not in there trying to be like nobody else. I steal a lot of things from different fighters, new and old, but at the end of the day, I try to mix it all in the pie and try to come up with something else," stated fast-rising middleweight Caleb Plant, who talked about his latest victory, his future plans, and much more. Check it out!
PC: Congratulations on the TKO win over Adasat Rodriguez. How do you feel about the performance?
CP: We felt like we did a good job. We felt like we entertained and showed a lot of skills and footwork, defense, and some good offense. We're happy, but we're not content. We're always looking forward to keep striving, to keep pushing forward and getting better. I want to keep adding to our arsenal and keep sharpening our tools. But overall, we were happy.
PC: A punch that I feel is under utilized today is the jab to the stomach. You used that punch very well to set up what you wanted to do upstairs.
CP: I agree. I think the jab to the body is definitely not used enough by a lot of fighters these days, but we try to be well-rounded and dimensional. I think that the jab to the body keeps people off rhythm and it allows me to get in mine, so we definitely try to take full advantage of that.
PC: Was there anything about Rodriguez that surprised you or was he what you guys expected?
CP: I don't watch tape too much. My coaches watch a little bit and we plan a little bit, but I seen some video on him and I knew he had some heavy feet. I knew he wasn't light on his feet, so the job was to go in there and box him up and look good doing it and that's what we did. We looked good doing it.
PC: I think you surprised a lot of people with your movement, slickness, and counter punching ability. Not that you hadn't displayed it before, but when you're knocking everyone out early, you're not perceived as a slick fighter.
CP: It's definitely not something that just came up that night. That's who I am. That wasn't no special occasion or "Oh, let's try this." This is an everyday thing for me. I'm an artist and boxing has given me an identity and self worth and this is how I express myself. I'm not in there trying to be like nobody else. I steal a lot of things from different fighters, new and old, but at the end of the day, I try to mix it all in the pie and try to come up with something else. I'm not in there trying to be this person or that person. Really I'm not trying to do anything. I just get in there and when I get around boxing, I just turn up and that's what comes out of me. That's what's inside of me, so that's an everyday thing for me; in the gym in sparring. But in my past fights, I hadn't had a chance to show all of that because for a couple of fights, I had people in there who were trying to survive. They were running away, so I had to have a higher guard and cut the ring off and walk 'em down. In the beginning of my pro career, I was knocking people out in the 1st round and they said, "Oh, Caleb trying to knock people out because he don't have good stamina." And then I go all 8 rounds with Jamar Freeman and Tyrone Brunson because they were running away the whole time, then it flip flops and they say, "Caleb don't have no power, but he's got great stamina." But before, they saying the opposite. So for this fight, I showed great stamina, great boxing skills and footwork, and I tried to entertain people because I feel like you're supposed to have fun with what you do in life and I catch flack for that. So at the end of the day, you're never going to be able to make everybody happy. You just gotta stay close to your team, your family, your friends, and just try to better yourself on the outside of the ring every day and you gotta try and better yourself on the inside of the ring every day. You just gotta go in there and do it your way because no matter what, at least 50% of the people are going to hate you anyway.
They ask me, "Caleb, why you fight like that? Why you do that?" I'm not trying to do anything. That's just what's in me. I had a daughter who passed away at 19 months. She had 150 seizures a day on average. She had zero motor skills. She couldn't hold her head up, she couldn't grab anything, she couldn't eat. She had to eat through a tube in her stomach. She was never going to stand up, she was never going to go to school, and if she did, what was going to happen? The kids were going to make fun of her. Why? Because that's what kids do. She was never going to be able to say, "I'm proud of you dad." I was never going to get to go to career day. I stayed in the hospital with her for 19 months watching my daughter die every single day and now God has blessed me with all of this athletic ability and when it's time to shine, I'm not supposed to get in there and turn all the way up? I'm not supposed to go in there and just go all out and entertain people and use all of my abilities to the best of my abilities? See, it's easy for people to sit back and say, "Don't do that. Don't be like that!" You people want me to be another face in the crowd? I've been blessed with a lot of attributes on top of a good work ethic and when you're around someone like my daughter for 19 months, it puts things into perspective of you gotta go all out every day, man, because you never know when it's your time. Not to mention, there are a lot of people out there that never get the chance to do what we do.
PC: Everything you just said is what I explain to people about Cam Newton. All athletes aren't created the same and all paths to get to where you are are different. That's what makes sports so great is to see the different characters and their trials and tribulations play out in the boxing ring, on a football field, or other athletic forums. They want athletes to be who they want them to be as opposed to letting them be who they are.
CP: Exactly! That's what I'm saying. I don't know, man, I have come to terms with it. When I was young and still an amateur and was dreaming about being a pro and undefeated and being on TV, I just wanted everybody to love me. I just wanted people to love me. I just had to come to terms with the fact that, especially with how I fight and who I am, that I'm just going to catch a lot of flack and I have come to terms with that. And I appreciate it, honestly.
PC: You took this fight at 168. Was that a one time deal, something you're looking to do, or what?
CP: We moved up in weight and this guy moved down from 175 so we could get this fight. He moved down and I just moved up to 68 to take this fight. He had been in some 12-round fights in England for British titles and this and that, so we thought we were going to have to stay focused and stay sharp because this is going to be a good one. A lot of things look good on paper, but when you get in there and the bell rings, sometimes it's a different story. So hats off to Adasat Rodriguez; he's a super tough guy and a really nice guy, but this is just part of the business.
PC: You had 6 fights in 2015. Are you looking for that same work rate or scale back a little bit? What's your approach for this year?
CP: I was scheduled for 8 fights in 2015. I pulled out of 2 because twice Alia was on life support a couple of times, so when things got real shaky, I had to make sure I was there for that in case anything happened. This year, as long as we keep getting through these fights with no scrapes and no bruises and we don't have any hand injuries or anything like that, I'm looking to stay as busy as possible. I'm going to leave that up to Al Haymon and Luis. I'm always in the gym. I've been in the gym since last Tuesday. I don't like taking breaks. I don't like staying out of the gym and a lot of times they have to kick me out of the gym. So I'm looking to stay as busy as possible. So hopefully I go about the same amount of times if we could make that happen.
PC: I spoke to Terrell Gausha and he recalled you and Jesse Hart as his toughest fights in the amateurs. Do you remember your fight with Gausha?
CP: Yeah, yeah! Terrell is a great dude. Once I became an Olympic alternate, we got to kick it some and know each other. That was a great fight. Hats off to him. I know he's undefeated and doing his thing and maybe that's a potential big money fight down the road for both of us to get in front of everybody and put a show on. But yeah, that was definitely a good fight. He beat me like 18-16 or something like that in the amateurs. I seen his fight with Jesse Hart too. That was a great fight. Hats off to Jesse too. He's doing his thing and he's undefeated and moving up. For the people that's in my weight division and out of my weight division, I don't have hate for nobody. I'm proud of everybody who I seen come up as an amateur and now as pros. I see some doing their thing, some of them fell off, but at the end of the day, it's peace and blessings to all of them. We all in here trying to do the same thing. I know I'm not at the top of my weight division yet, but I feel like there is a season for everything and when it's somebody's time and God says this is your time, there is really no denying that and I feel like I'm on the verge of that. Within the next year or so, it's going to be my time. And once it is, there won't be no denying that and no stopping that.
PC: I definitely look forward to seeing you back in there. Keep me posted when you hear about your next fight. Is there anything else you would like to add before I let you get out of here?
CP: Man, I just want anybody that reads this to know that I appreciate their support. Anybody that follows me and my career, I appreciate it. You can follow me on social media @caleplant. I hope everyone continues to tune-in and I just appreciate everybody, man. God bless.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]