Caleb Plant-Trevor McCumby To Land On Canelo Alvarez-Edgar Berlanga PPV Event

Caleb Plant is no longer tasked with headlining the first standalone Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) Prime Video card.

He is, however, armed with a new fight date.

The Ring has confirmed that Plant’s bout with unbeaten fringe contender Trevor McCumby will now take place on Sept. 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.  The super middleweight fight will serve as part of the Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez-Edgar Berlanga PBC on Prime Pay-Per-View event.

Brunch Boxing’s Matthew “Bellini” Brown was the first to report the development.

Plant-McCumby was previously budgeted to take place on Aug. 17 at Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida. The night was set aside as the first non-PPV event to be presented under PBC’s new deal with Prime Video. However, a cut suffered by McCumby during training camp not only postponed the fight but killed off the entire show.

The four-week delay now puts Plant (22-2, 13 knockouts) in the presence of his divisional rivals.

Plant has not fought since his hard-fought defeat to David Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) last March in Las Vegas. Benavidez, No. 1 at 168, remains the top contender to Alvarez’s undisputed championship but will instead campaign at 175.

It could open the door for Plant to re-enter the title picture, a stage he enjoyed from 2019-2021. Plant lost to Alvarez via eleventh-round knockout in their Nov. 2021 full unification bout to end his IBF title reign. Just two fights have followed, both under the guidance of gifted boxing mind Stephen ‘Breadman’ Edwards.

Prior to the Benavidez bout, Plant—a Tennessee native now based in Las Vegas—knocked out Anthony Dirrell in the ninth-round of their Oct. 2022 battle in Brooklyn, New York. However, his extended ring absence since the Benavidez defeat ended forced him out of The Ring’s 168-pound rankings. He was ranked number-three prior to that point.

McCumby (28-0, 21 KOs) holds an unblemished record but versus limited opposition.

The unbeaten 31-year-old from Glendale, Arizona previously recorded a career-best first-round knockout of Donovan George. It was converted to a No-Contest, however, when McCumby tested positive for a banned substance following their Nov. 2016 meeting. The matter was under litigation, which pushed out the ruling until the following September.

A nine-month suspension followed, during which time McCumby strongly considered retirement. He had a change of heart and has won five in a row since his 2018 return. The biggest was in his most recent outing, a ten-round decision over Chris Pearson on a Jan. 31 ProBox show in Plant City, Florida.

Alvarez attempts the seventh defense of his RING championship along with the WBC and WBA 168-pound titles. His WBO belt is also at stake for the sixth time. The IBF strap was removed from his possession for failure to defend versus William Scull (22-0, 9 KOs).

Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) enters his first career title fight.

The 27-year-old Nuyorican was embroiled in a months-long social media beef with Plant, though few expected an actual fight to come from the situation. Berlanga, No. 9 at 168 by The Ring, was always a leading candidate to land the dream assignment versus Alvarez.

A two-city press tour is scheduled for Monday (New York) and Tuesday (Los Angeles) to formally announce the event.

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