Mike Plania looks on after knocking down Joshua Greer in the sixth round of their catchweight bout in Las Vegas. Photo from Top Rank
MANILA, Philippines—Joshua Greer vowed to come back stronger after his bitter loss to Mike Plania, admitting the Filipino boxer was simply the “better man” during their fight.
Greer was considered as one of the top prospects of the bantamweight division but he fell to Plania via majority decision in their 10-round bout Wednesday [Manila time] at MGM Grand Conference Center.
Plania sent Greer crashing in the opening round and again towards the end of the sixth, both times courtesy of a powerful left hook.
Though the American had a strong finish to the bout, the best he got was a 94-94 card from judge Dave Moretti while Patricia Morse Jarman and Thim Cheatham had it, 97-91, 96-92, for Plania respectively.
“It’s a heartbreaker,” said Greer (22-2-2, 12 knockouts) said in an interview with ESPN’s Bernardo Osuna after the main event. “I did get caught with some shots that I didn’t see but… I gotta take my losses like I take my wins. I gotta go back to the drawing board, figure some things out with my team and work even harder.”
“I’m gonna make a push again, you know. It was just Mike Plania’s night (Tuesday). He done a great job… I take my hat off to him, but I’ll be back.”
Greer was riding a 19-fight winning streak that included seven KOs and was even tabbed to fight WBO World bantamweight champion John Riel Casimero, whose bout against Naoya Inoue was postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The American fighter even wished to face Inoue, saying that he’d be the first man to defeat The Monster.
It was Plania (24-1), however, who saw his stock rise and his winning streak extended to nine, with five of those wins coming off stoppages.
Plania took the bout in four weeks’ notice, coming from junior featherweight and agreeing to fight Greer at a 120-pound catchweight.
Greer, meanwhile, was supposed to be in the undercard of the Casimero-Inoue unification bout originally scheduled April 25.
Greer, who last fought on Oct. 26, 2019 against Antonio Nieves for the WBO NABO and the WBC Continental Americas bantamweight titles, was initially supposed to slug it out with Australian Jason Maloney (20-1, 17 KOs).
But Greer said the change in opponent didn’t affect him and that Plania was just the better and smarter fighter.
“It didn’t affect me at all,” said Greer. “There’s no excuses from me. Mike Plania was just the better man. He was the smarter man in the end. No excuses, man. He won, I take my hat off to the winner. I gotta go back to the drawing board.”