Boxing

Caleb Plant, Jermall Charlo On Collision Course Ahead of Returns On Saturday

Caleb Plant and Jermall Charlo could fight in late 2025 if they win their respective bouts on Saturday.
Nathaniel Marrero|
Caleb Plant watching as Jermall Charlo speaks at the press conference on Thursday.
Caleb Plant watching as Jermall Charlo speaks at the press conference on Thursday. | IMAGO/Hoganphotos

If all goes according to plan, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez vs Terence Crawford won't be the only big fight that takes place later in 2025.

Caleb Plant and Jermall Charlo will fight in separate bouts on Saturday in Las Vegas at the Michelob Ultra Arena at 8 p.m. ET. Plant will headline the Premier Boxing Champions card, defending his interim WBA super middleweight title against Armando Resendiz, while Charlo will face Thomas LaManna in the co-feature.

Should Plant (23-2, 14 KOs), 32, and Charlo (33-0, 22 KOs), 35, win, they'll be in line to face each other. While both fighters know what could lie ahead, they understand that they must handle their business on Saturday to reach that point.

"This is a big moment for Armando but this is a big moment for me too," Plant said at the final press conference on Thursday. "I got a lot on the line. He may have nothing to lose but I have everything to lose. I keep that in mind when I'm training, when I'm running, when I'm sacrificing. I put in a lot of hard work. I've sacrificed a lot this camp and it's going to show on Saturday."

"I'm ready to fight," Charlo said. "I feel the energy. The energy is great...I'm ready to showcase my talent and give you guys the old Jermall Charlo that y'all once had...It's going to be a show. I come to do what I do and we got bigger things in the future."

Plant, a former IBF super middleweight champion, overcame an early knockdown to stop Trevor McCumby in the 9th round on Sept. 14. He promised to deliver another impressive performance en route in hopes of landing a big fight vs Charlo.

"You're going to get it," Plant said to Resendiz. "You said I've been talking too much. I haven't really said nothing. Saturday night, I'm going to show you what I really do. Be ready."

Resendiz (15-2, 11 KOs) got a 5th-round stoppage of Fernando Paliza the last time he stepped into the ring on Feb. 21. The most significant win of his career was a 10th-round stoppage of former unified junior middleweight champion Jarrett Hurd in 2024.

Charlo, a former junior middleweight and middleweight champion, will be in the ring for the first time in over 18 months when he faces LaManna (39-5-1, 18 KOs). His career has been marred by inactivity since the turn of the decade, as he has only fought twice since his unanimous decision win over Sergiy Derevyanchenko in 2020.

Many unknowns surround Charlo, given his age and time out of the ring. Even an impressive win won't answer all of the questions he needs to answer ahead of a potential fight vs Plant.

LaManna has won nine straight fights since losing via first-round knockout to WBA middleweight champion Erislandy Lara in 2021. While he has his sights on thwarting plans for Charlo and Plant to face each other, Charlo is ready to make it a quick night if LaManna makes a mistake.

"If he makes the wrong move, doesn't calculate his decisions, his timing isn't right ot he gets too close, I'm going to knock his a** clean the f*** out," Charlo said.

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Nathaniel Marrero
NATHANIEL MARRERO

Nathaniel Marrero is a writer for the Boxing, Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Ravens On SI sites. He's also written for the Orlando Sentinel and MLB.com, and was a part of UCF's sports show, Hitting The Field. He attended UCF and graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism in 2023. Twitter/X: Nate_Marrero

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