Caleb Truax isn’t impressed with Caleb Plant’s resume since he beat Jose Uzcategui to win the IBF super middleweight title two years ago.

In his two title defenses, Plant has stopped unbeaten-but-overmatched Mike Lee by third-round technical knockout and Vincent Feigenbutz by 10th-round TKO.

Plant dropped Lee (then 21-0) once in the first round and three times in the third round of their July 2019 bout at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Feigenbutz (then 31-2) provided more resistance, yet Plant was easily handling him before Plant pummeled Feigenbutz with a barrage of unanswered punches that brought their fight to an end in the 10th round at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

Lee was an optional opponent, but Plant had no choice but to defend his title against Germany’s Feigenbutz because he was the mandatory challenger for Plant’s 168-pound championship.

Nevertheless, Truax doesn’t think anything Plant has done in the ring since becoming a world champion has properly prepared him for their 12-round title fight Saturday night in Los Angeles. The 37-year-old Truax is an enormous underdog, too, but he also is a former IBF super middleweight champion who is certain he’ll test Plant much more than Lee and Feigenbutz.

“The mandatory deal against the German guy, obviously, that’s a mandatory, so he had to fight that fight,” Truax told BoxingScene.com. “But the first fight [against Lee], that’s a layup. There’s no reason for that fight to even take place. But credit to [Plant], he got paid for fighting a guy who had no business being in the ring with him. So, I’m not gonna knock him for that.

“But obviously, beating guys like that, it’s not gonna help you at all when you step up to face real fighters. We’ll see if he can adjust to my style and fighting a real fighter, instead of a guy like Mike Lee.”

Most Internet sports books list the 28-year-old Plant (20-0, 12 KOs) as at least a 45-1 favorite over Truax (31-4-2, 19 KOs, 1 NC), who is another IBF-mandated challenger for Plant.

FOX will televise the bout between Plant, of Ashland City, Tennessee, and Truax, of St. Michael, Minnesota, as the main event of a tripleheader from Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in Los Angeles (8 p.m. EST; 5 p.m. PST). 

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.