Caleb Plant stops Mike Lee via TKO in round 3, Benavidez or Dirrell next?

Caleb Plant showed speed and power in his victory over Mike Lee. With David Benavidez vs. Anthony Dirrell coming up, a clash is brewing.

There was a lot of bad blood between IBF super middleweight champion Caleb Plant (19-0, 11 KOs) and challenger Mike Lee (21-1, 11 KOs) before their Saturday, July 20 bout on FOX. Lee was the aggressor to start the fight, but Plant used a combination of speed and power to win the contest.

Lee pushed forward against Plant to kickoff the first round. Plant moved around the ring well and worked in several combinations low and high. Lee targeted Plant’s body, but Plant countered with fast hands to score.

Towards the end of the round Plant stunned Lee with a left hook that dropped him. Lee got to his feet. It was hard to tell if he was in serious trouble or caught off guard. Plant attacked, but the bell rang to end the round.

Lee attacked again to begin round 2, but Plant continued to counter with quick hands. Lee tried to corner Plant, but Plant was evasive. Plant hit Lee with a right to the body, but Lee taunted him after the blow.

In round 3, Plant scored early with the jab and sent Lee to the canvas with a straight right. He returned to his feet but appeared to go down after a left hook. It was officially ruled a push.

Lee got to his feet but was in trouble. Plant sent Lee down for a third time in the round, and referee Robert Byrd stopped the fight. Lee got to his feet and wanted to continue, but Byrd saw enough.

It was a spirited build-up to the fight, and fans were excited due to the previous animosity between Plant and Lee. After the match, Plant was complimentary of Lee’s efforts.

“I tip my hat to Mike (Lee) because it takes a true champion to step between these ropes,” said Plant. “But it’s ‘And Still’ just like I predicted.”

Lee was also respectful of Plant and complimented his speed in return.

“The speed was the difference, he’s fast and very accurate,” said Lee. “I had some success with my right hands but wasn’t able to be consistent with it.”

Earlier in the day, there was a press conference to announce a pay-per-view card featuring Errol Spence Jr. vs. Shawn Porter. Also featured is a contest between former super middleweight champion David Benavidez and current WBC champion Anthony Dirrell.

It’s easy to connect the dots and see that PBC and FOX plan to pit the winner of Benavidez and Dirrell against Plant for a unification bout. That’s the smart money. It will be interesting to see who the WBC super middleweight champion is after Sept. 28.