Anthony Dirrell made a startling choice for his Twitter bio that mimicked a knockout the former world champion suffered against Caleb Plant.
“The Dog” gave his fourth-round uppercut KO win over Marcos Hernandez pride of place at the top of his social media.
In a shocking twist, the move returned to haunt him as Plant took him out with a similar puncher almost a year later.
The former super middleweight world champion, “Sweethands,” delivered a highlight-reel one-punch knockout over the two-time super middleweight champion.
Plant planted Dirrell in the ninth round of their WBC 168-pound title eliminator on the Wilder vs Helenius undercard.
After a long war of words between the two rivals leading up to the fight, the contest was a tactical affair throughout.
Big uppercut
That’s until Plant landed a flush left hook that emphatically put an end to their in-ring rivalry in the same style as Dirrell’s single shot uppercut.
The eventual winner was ahead on the scorecards 80-72 and 79-73 twice before referee Harvey Dock waived off the bout 2:57 into the round.
Plant left the judges obsolete.
In his first fight with trainer Stephen “Breadman” Edwards, Plant continued to display the pristine boxing skills that have buoyed his run in the super middleweight division.
He dominated the punch stats, landing 43% of his total punches, including a 43% clip on power punches.
Caleb Plant wants another world title
The 30-year-old returned to the ring after dropping an undisputed super middleweight title fight to Canelo Alvarez last November.
It was a statement victory for Plant. He now has set his sights on regaining his champion status and making marquee fights sooner than later.
“This win felt good,” said Plant. “You’ve heard about how much he hates me, but my head and my heart are what won me this fight.
“I was in control the whole time. My coach told me to stay patient and ease in, and that’s what we did. Then, boom!
“I’m ready for whatever comes next,” added Plant. “I’m going to spend some time with my family, but then I’m ready for the biggest fights we can make.”
Anthony Dirrell’s future
Dirrell wasn’t quoted after the fight as he went to lick his wounds. However, in recent days, Dirrell spoke out.
He told fighthype.com: “I haven’t figured it out yet. I’m leaning a little more toward retirement, honestly.
“I don’t have anything to prove to anybody. But I didn’t even need that fight. I just wanted the fight.
“I’m 38 years old. I can’t fight for nothing. It’s about my health. We got a few boos in there, but people realized that’s how Caleb fights.
“Caleb is a boxer. He’s not going to get in there and brawl with you. He knew he couldn’t sit there and brawl with me.”
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