With nearly half of the professional rounds of his former world-champion opponent, Armando Resendiz might be wise to minimize the boxing skill and IQ of Caleb Plant by pursuing a knockout.
“Look, as long as I do my job and listen to my corner and rely on my fundamentals, anything is possible, regardless of what he may be able to do,” Resendiz told BoxingScene.
Mexico’s Resendiz, 15-2 (11 KOs) is set to challenge Plant, 23-2 (14 KOs) for the latter’s interim WBA super middleweight title. Their scheduled 12-round secondary title fight headlines a Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on Prime Video this Saturday from Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas.
The general view of the fight has Resendiz as a steppingstone for Plant, a former IBF 168lbs titlist on a collision course with Houston’s Jermall Charlo, 33-0 (22 KOs).
Wins by Plant and Charlo – who faces Thomas "Cornflake" LaManna in the co-feature – is expected to lead to a grudge match later this fall. The winner of that fight will be poised for a shot at the undisputed crown held by Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, 63-3-3 (39 KOs).
Given the odds against him, Resendiz enters this weekend playing with house money.
Still, he carries a hunger spawned by seeking to support his family from the Mexican state of Nayarit, near Puerto Vallarta. He had realized upon packing up gloves for a practice session with his older brother that, “This is my thing, here."
Resendiz devoutly remained in the gym, winning his first 12 pro bouts in Mexico before a loss to Marcos Hernandez. A second-round knockdown put Resendiz in an early hole, but he picked himself to make that 2021 bout close.
Even more inspiring was his biggest win to date. Resendiz upset former unified 154lbs champion Jarrett Hurd in their March 2023 crossroads bout in Ontario, California. The momentum was short-lived, when suffers a cut-induced eighth-round stoppage to then-unbeaten Elijah Garcia later that September.
After a bout in Mexico earlier this year, Premier Boxing Champions has slotted Resendiz in the main event of this Prime Video card.
Trained by Manny Robles, who also corners elite 154lbs contender Serhii Bohachuk, Resendiz said he doesn’t feel obligated to create a brawl with Plant and prove what promoter Tom Brown said of him at a recent news conference – that Resendiz can “really crack.”
“I’ve just got to keep the faith,” Resendiz said. “Work hard. Believe in myself. With that combination, that should be enough to come out on top. The level of the boxing at the gym is high and I’ve sparred with just about every guy there over the years.”
With 11 of his 15 victories coming inside the distance, he’s seen it enough over the years, how the little-known “B side” fighter steps up and stuns the more well-known opponent.
“This is the seminal moment in my career,” Resendiz said.
When someone agreed and urged him to chase the knockout, Resendiz just nodded affirmatively and laughed.
Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.