Luka Plantic vs Jack Cullen Preview April 6th, 2024
Unbeaten Luka Plantic of Croatia puts his WBC International Super Middleweight Title on the line against former British and Commonwealth Champion Jack Cullen of England this Saturday, April 6th. This will be a 10-round bout held in Germany. Cullen last fought in January when he lost his British and Commonwealth Belts to Zak Chelli via a 12-round unanimous decision in a rematch after they battled to a 10-round draw in 2020. Cullen originally won them by upsetting Mark Heffron in the third round last September. Plantic was last in action in October when he halted Diego Ramirez in the fourth round.
Cullen vs Plantic Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Jack Cullen +300
- Luka Plantic -400
My Pick
The 27-year-old Plantic owns a perfect mark of 7-0 with 6 Ko’s and has fought 42 rounds since making his pro debut in 2018. He enjoyed a successful amateur career as was crowned the 2014 Croatian Youth Middleweight Champion and won the European Youth Championships as well as a silver medal at the Youth World Boxing Championships and a bronze at the Summer Youth Olympics. He also was named the Croatian Middleweight champion in 2015, 2016 and 2017 and Light Heavyweight Boss in 2020 and 2021. He made it to the quarter-finals of the Under-22 European Championships in 2017, won the Balkan Championships in 2019 and qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
As a pro, Plantic won the vacant WBC International Silver Super Middleweight Belt in December, 2022 with a 10-round unanimous decision over Khoren Gevor and has defended it against Yusuf Kanguel by 10th-round TKO and Diego Ramirez by fourth-round stoppage. As far as power is concerned, he obviously has plenty of it as his current knockout ratio clocks in at 85.7 per cent. He’s gone the distance just once and that was the win against Gevor. Plantic stands just under 6-feet-tall but unfortunately has an unlisted reach.
The 30-year-old Cullen is pretty tall for the 168-lb division as he’s 6-feet-3-inches with a reported 78-inch reach, which gives him a 3.5-inch edge in height on Plantic. He makes the ring walk with a record of 22-5-1 with 10 Ko’s and has boxed 148 rounds since making his pro debut in 2016 following his amateur career. Cullen has slightly below-average power as 45.5 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage and he’s gone the distance in even of his last eight fights.
On the other side of the coin, Cullen has been stopped in four of his five losses as Roy Sheahan halted him in the first round in 2018, Felix Cash took care of him in eight rounds in 2019 in a shot at the Commonwealth Middleweight Title and Kevin Lele Sadjo halted him in six rounds in 2021 in a shot at the vacant European Super Middleweight Belt. He was then stopped by Diego Pacheco last March in the fourth round in a shot at the vacant WBO International Super Middleweight Title.
In July, 2021 Cullen captured the vacant IBF Super Middleweight Crown with a 10-round unanimous decision over Avni Yildirim and he toppled Jack Sellars in 2019 for the vacant British Middleweight Title. Twelve of Cullen’s 28 opponents entered the ring with losing records and he’s never fought outside of the British Isles as a pro.
Prediction…
Cullen has a decent size advantage but has been stopped four times so his punch resistance isn’t the best and he’s facing an opponent who’s well known for his power. This fight could very well end before it reaches the distance if Plantic catches him and that’s going to be a key ingredient of this fight. If Cullen manages to evade that power he could go the distance but i wouldn’t count on it. Either way, I’m expecting Plantic to retain his belt.
Cullen’s punch resistance could be the deciding factor.
Play Plantic -400 @ BetOnline.ag
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Jack Cullen betting • Luka Plantic betting