LOS ANGELES – Junior featherweight contender Ra’eese Aleem dropped Mike Plania once en route to a one-sided 10-round decision victory Sunday night at Crypto .com Arena.
All three judges scored the fight 100-89 for Aleem, who improves to 20-0, 12 knockouts.
It was all Aleem from the opening bell as he worked behind a solid, consistent jab.
Early in the second round, Plania took a knee. At the same time Aleem threw a punch, Plania fell to the canvas. Referee Ray Corona administered eight rounds on the feet, though replays showed the punch did not land flush on Plania.
As the fight progressed, Aleem asserted himself, putting Plania down. Plania tried to land a significant blow, but when he landed a right hand, Aleem took the blow well.
Ra’eese Aleem closes RD10 with a combination to make Mike Plania flee. He is now in the hands of the judges. #AleemPlania pic.twitter.com/OZXnEr2H6u
– Premier Boxing Champions (@premierboxing) September 4, 2022
Aleem continued to dominate the rounds while Plania seemed to be in survival mode. Plania looked defeated going into the last two rounds. During the tenth round, a right hand to the head followed by a left hook stunned Plania. Aleem followed, but Plania wisely tied up. Aleem tried to take Plania down, but the bell rang to end the round.
The Aleem-Plania fight was originally scheduled for June 18 on the Jermall Charlo-Maciej Sulecki fight card, but the card was postponed after Charlo suffered a back injury during training camp.
Sunday marked another win for the 32-year-old, who is from Muskegon, Michigan, and now lives and trains in Las Vegas, Nevada. In his previous fight on November 27, Aleem defeated Eduardo Báez of Mexico by majority decision.
Plania, who resides in General Santos City in the Philippines, drops to 26-2, 13 KOs. His most significant victory was a majority decision over Joshua Greer in June 2020.
The Aleem-Plania bout aired on FS1 and took place before the heavyweight clash between contender Andy Ruiz and Luis Ortiz.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County, California, Star newspaper. He can be contacted by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing
