Undercard Results: Plant Blasts McCumby, Lara and Romero Win Snoozefests

Undercard results on the Canelo vs Berlanga card presented a decidedly mixed bag for fans at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas Saturday, with only a handful of entertaining moments.

Lackluster End as Erislandy Lara Stops Danny Garcia

Erislandy Lara dropped Danny Garcia with a left hook to the temple at the end of the ninth round – possibly the end of Garcia's career. Photo: Rey Del Rio, Premier Boxing Champions

The co-main event was sad on multiple levels. WBA World Middleweight champion Erislandy Lara of Cuba (31-3-3, 18 KOs) stopped two-division champion Danny “Swift” Garcia of Philadelphia (37-4, 21 KOs) after nine sluggish rounds with a single decent left hook to the temple. Lara remains the oldest world champion in boxing with the victory.

Describing the fight action will be the shortest paragraph in this story. There were so few punches thrown that between the two men, they landed only 100 punches combined: 63 of 262 for Lara (24%), and 33 of 196 for Garcia (17%).

“I took him to school, fought my fight stylistically, took him round by round, landed my shots, and you know, again, I took him to school,” said Lara after the win.

“I didn’t throw much punches, but the punches I was landing was hurting him. I knew that. And of course, that shot that ended this fight was a big shot.”

Erislandy Lara remains boxing's older world champion at age 41. Photo: Rey Del Rio, Premier Boxing Champions

After the temple shot landed and dropped Garcia just before the bell, Garcia’s father and trainer Angel immediately asked referee Thomas Taylor to stop the fight.

Garcia’s 776 day layoff and moving up to the middleweight division all worked against him.

“I came off a two-year layoff. I stepped up in weight class. I tried to be great. You know, it wasn't my night. No excuses.

“I didn't think the layoff would affect me, but this only my second fight in like, four years, so there's no excuses,” added Garcia. “You know, I guess I couldn't catch my rhythm. I haven't been active. Maybe that was a reason, or maybe he was just better than me tonight.”

Garcia said he didn’t want to make a mistake and get caught. He said he wasn’t upset when his father stopped the fight.

“At the end of the day, he's always gonna do what's best for me. You know, I apologize to all my fans. I tried to be great tonight. I tried to go for a third division. I didn't conquer it, but I tried. You can't you can't fail if you don't try,” said Garcia.

As both men fought back their tears, Garcia said he would consider retiring, and his father said, “It might be the last time in my life. Only God knows. Whatever Danny wants to do, I’m okay with it.”

Undercard results highlight: Caleb Plant Pushes Past Adversity to Stop Trevor McCumby

Caleb Plant had to shake off his ring rust and get off the deck to stop Trevor McCumby. Photo: Premier Boxing Champions

Shaking off inactivity, Caleb Plant of Las Vegas (23-2, 14 KOs) overcame an early knockdown to stop Trevor McCumby of Glendale, Arizona (28-1, 21 KOs) in an impressive comeback ninth-round TKO win.

“I was just easing in. Word on the street is I can’t fight on the inside. I think I proved that I can tonight. It feels good to be the interim WBA champ. And the newwww!” said Plant.

It was the banger fans hoped for and the best fight of the undercard. Plant was heavily favored, but McCumby refused to follow the expected plot. Coming right at Plant, he took advantage of Plant’s inactivity, getting to the former champion with impressive power punches.

McCumby blasted Plant back into the ropes in round three. It should have been scored a knockdown as Plant was held up by the ropes. No dice, said referee Alan Huggins, even as Plant returned to his corner on wobbly legs.

In the following round, McCumby got his knockdown, hitting Plant to the upper body and putting him on the canvas.

“He caught me pulling out,” explained Plant. “It hit my shoulder. I was off balance and fell. I wasn’t hurt. That’s part of the game. He was coming in with a lot of punches. Shake it off, stay focused, and I’m a true champion. I can fight through anything.”

With trainer Stephen Edwards giving Plant directions, Plant gathered himself and went after McCumby. McCumby proved his toughness, taking multiple body shots followed by uppercuts. Plant kept McCumby on the back foot as McCumby’s stamina wore down after a strong first half.

Trevor McCumby made it an entertaining fight, and he'll be welcome back anytime. Photo: Premier Boxing Champions

Observers know Plant can also run out of steam late in a tough fight. Credit to Plant who kept coming after McCumby. At the end of a rough ninth round for McCumby, Plant pinned McCumby on the ropes and unleashed an arsenal of punches, including a left uppercut and right hook. A split second before the bell sounded, Huggins stepped in and stopped the fight, giving Plant the ninth-round TKO victory.

“We got back up, went to work, and we got the stoppage,” said Plant. I knew had him hurt, went to work, and get him the fuck outta there.”

With his adorable daughter Charlie in his arms, Plant refused to call out an opponent. “I’d like to go home and play with my daughter. You guys know I’m up for the biggest challenges at all times.”

Although McCumby lost, his stock rose and he sells a fight with his game personality. He’s now on the boxing fan radar and will be welcomed back to the ring anytime.

Romero Rolls Over Jaimes and No One Cared

Rolly Romero dominated Manuel Jaimes in a lackluster fight no one will remember tomorrow. Photo: Rey Del Rio, Premier Boxing Champions

Rolly Romero of Las Vegas (16-2, 13 KOs) won by decision in an uninspiring contest over Manuel Jaimes of Stockton, California (16-2-1, 11 KOs). Scores were 99-91 in Romero’s favor.

Romero was busier and drove what action fans saw, while Jaimes failed to take advantage of his opportunity on a big stage. The problem for Romero is this: he doesn’t offer a lot of entertainment in the ring. How much longer can his outside the ring antics keep getting him matchups on big fight cards?

Stephen Fulton Squeezes By Carlos Castro

Stephen Fulton was fortunate to pull off a victory with a late-round effort against Carlos Castro. Photo: Premier Boxing Champions

Stephen “Cool Boy” Fulton of Philadelphia suffered from ring rust on Saturday. Still, he leaned on his experience and will to pull out a split decision win against a highly motivated Carlos Castro of Phoenix in his first fight in the featherweight division.

Fulton (23-1, 8 KOs) was knocked down by Castro (30-3, 14 KOs) in the fifth round and took plenty of impressive power shots from Castro throughout the fight. But his father and trainer Bozy Ennis helped keep his son focused and calm and pushed him to pull out the victory by winning the final few rounds to get the victory.

Ennis owned up to the problems caused by his inactivity. “I feel like it was tough, but I overturned things and kept fighting,” admitting he failed to keep his right hand up as his father advised him, getting caught with the left hook for the knockdown.

“This is my first fight back in 14 months. Ring rust is out of the way. I feel like I did an amazing job,” said Ennis. To the fans at the T-Mobile Arena who booed the outcome, he said, “Shout out to the boos, too,” as he left the ring.