Caleb Plant and David Benavidez Ready to Rumble on March 25

Apart from the continuous insults that have been launched for a long time, David Benavidez and Caleb Plant have the same objective: to come out on top and earn a date with Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez.

Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) and Plant (22-1, 13 KOs) will clash on March 25th at the Grand Garden Arena at the MGM in Las Vegas. This battle for the WBC interim belt will award the victor with the opportunity to face Canelo, the undisputed 168-pound champion who is expected to return to the ring in May against John Ryder.

At the age of 26, born in Phoenix, Arizona and the son of a Mexican father and an Ecuadorian mother, Benavidez has six consecutive victories within the limit; the most recent against Canadian David Lemieux (43-5, 36 KOs) on May 21st at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona, where Benavidez claimed the WBC Interim title.

A few weeks before the duel against Plant, which will be broadcast via PPV on Showtime, Benavidez insisted that he has little time left in the super middleweight division and then he will move up a division as he continues his career.

“The reason why I stayed for so long is because I wanted to make this fight happen for sure,” said Benavidez.  “And then since I’m already there, I might as well try to make these other big fights happen. We got Canelo, we got (David) Morrell, (Jermall) Charlo, or maybe Boo Boo Andrade and then after that, I’m going up to 175. If I can’t get any of those fights made then I’m going to 175.”

In various encounters with the media, Benavidez has stated that this fight has been negotiated for the last five years and he has no doubt that now that it is finalized, he will chloroform Plant before the sixth round.

Likewise, the former two-time WBC super middleweight world champion has insisted over and over again that he has all the attributes to beat Canelo, whom he surpasses in reach and height. “Canelo Alvarez has great power, but with my power, reach and jab, I can hurt Canelo at any time,” said Benavidez.

Benavidez, who concluded his amateur career with 15 wins without setbacks, became the youngest world champion in the super middleweight division, defeating Romanian Ronald Gavril by split decision on September 8, 2017, in Las Vegas. That night he was three months and nine days away from his 21st birthday.

Almost a year later he received a six-month ban and was declared a “recessed champion” after testing positive for a cocaine compound during a surprise doping test.

Referring to the fight against Plant, Benavidez told a group of reporters that during his 10-year professional career, “I’ve had bad things and good things happen to me. Everything has happened to me for a reason. I’m going to be the best David Benavidez on March 25. This is going to be the fight of the year and knockout of the year.”

Plant, a former IBF champion (he lost the belt to Canelo by technical knockout in the eleventh round in November 2021), has also thrown inflammatory words at Benavidez on multiple occasions, either in direct interviews or press conferences, both face-to-face and virtual.

“I don’t know what his deal is, but I think he’s nervous, and he feels he’s got a real fight on his hands. He’s never had a fight like this before, and he better come right,” said Plant.

On October 15, Plant knocked out American Anthony Dirrell (34-3-2, 25 KOs) in the ninth round at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Coincidentally, Benavidez also anesthetized Dirrell in the same round three years earlier at the Staples Center in Los Angeles where he regained the WBC 168-pound title.

Plant, who is placed at the top of the WBC and WBA rankings, second in the WBO and third in the IBF, commented, “He’s supposed to say he’s going to knock me out. The only thing is, he should be able to say that. He shouldn’t have to read from his phone to say that. So, I don’t know if his daddy wrote a speech for him or what.”

Plant continued, “All the things he’s saying and all the things he’s doing, it’s either for the cameras, or his daddy told him to say that because that’s who runs the show over there. His daddy runs the show. “His dad tells him what to say, his dad tells him when to be quiet, his dad tells him what to do. His dad tells him what to do over here. On my team, I’m running the show. Again, he sounded real nervous up there just stuttering a bunch, but come fight night, he had better not be stuttering.”

For Plant, a victory against Benavidez will have special meaning, because it will offer him an opportunity for direct revenge against Canelo, who defeated him in the eleventh round on November 6, 2021, at the MGM.

Recently Benavidez Sr. shared his thoughts on the fact that he no longer considers Canelo an elite fighter. “I consider (Alvarez), with all due respect, done as a fighter. He is worn out. First, we saw him with a knee injury, and now he injured (and eventually got surgery on) his (left) hand.”

Benavidez Sr. continued, “Canelo has given everything he could against elite opposition. Now he only has to look for fighters like John Ryder or Edgar Berlanga. He is no longer at the level to challenge elite rivals. I have bad news for everybody – there will not be a fight between David Benavidez and Canelo. Forget about that fight, we have other horizons. We have a contract for three fights with David Morrell, Jermall Charlo, and Demetrius Andrade. Those are very good fights – names that Canelo Alvarez didn’t want to fight. So, we are going to fight with them to show who we are.”

Article submitted by Jorge Juan Álvarez in Spanish.

 Please note any adjustments made were for clarification purposes and any errors in translation were unintentional.

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