Caleb Plant will defend his IBF super middleweight title against Caleb Truax on January 30, Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) announced on Wednesday night.

The 12-round bout will take place at a venue to be determined in Los Angeles, California, where PBC has promoted cards during the COVID-19 pandemic and will headline a “FOX PBC Fight Night” telecast.

The clash between Plant and Truax will pit fighters ranked in the top-10 super middleweight ranking by The Ring. Plant and Truax and ranked Nos. 2 and 6 respectively.

Plant (20-0, 12 knockouts), who fights under the PBC banner, was considered an opponent for The Ring Magazine middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez, this Saturday night, in San Antonio, Texas. There were reportedly preliminary discussions between Al Haymon, who advises Plant, and Eddy Reynoso, who co-trains and manages Alvarez, but nothing was finalized. Alvarez, who will face The Ring Magazine super middleweight champion Callum Smith, is a promotional free agent after he was released from his contract with Golden Boy Promotions in early November.

After stopping Germany’s Vincent Feigenbutz in his most recent bout on February 15, in his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee, Plant was also on a short list of fighters to face Alvarez on Cinco de Mayo weekend but Plant thought the turnaround was too close.

Caleb Truax. Photo by Steven Paston/Getty Images

Plant will be making the third defense of the IBF title he won on January 13 of last year by defeating Jose Uzcategui by unanimous decision.

Truax (31-4-2, 19 KOs), who resides in the Minneapolis, Minnesota, suburb of Saint Michael, was scheduled to face Mexico’s Alfredo Angulo on August 29 but had to withdraw from the fight reportedly due to dehydration in attempting to make weight. Truax was also scheduled to fight Peter Quillin on August 31 of last year in a rematch of their no-decision, four-and-a-half months prior, but had to withdraw from the fight due to reportedly tearing his right Achilles heel.

The 37-year-old, who has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Minnesota, won the IBF title by majority decision over James DeGale in December 2017. Truax would lose the title to DeGale in a rematch less than four months later.

In his most recent bout on January 25, Truax defeated Uganda’s David Basajjamivule by majority decision in a competitive fight.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @FSalazarBoxing.

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