By Norm Frauenheim –
For now, it’s a fight known for its rancor. David Benavidez and Caleb Plant have been insulting each other for at least a couple of years.
The four-letter festival continued, ad nauseam, at a news conference in Los Angeles last week. Between now and opening bell on March 25 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand, there’ll be no end to the trash.
Trash in, trash out. In boxing, that’s a business plan. But there’s more to this bout than just another effing expletive.
It’s a multi-dimensional date, edgy for the bad blood and the threat that some real blood will be spilled. Above all, it’s a genuine fight during an era when there just aren’t many.
Who wins? Who knows?
Benavidez appears to have the momentum and most of the energy. Narrow odds suggest he’ll win and move closer to a so-called mandatory date with undisputed super-middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.
Even Canelo, who has beaten Plant and dismissed Benavidez as unworthy of a shot, picks Benavidez in an interview with ESNEWS. Still, it’s not clear whether Canelo would fight him or resume his career at light-heavyweight.
Nevertheless, he’s interested. Canelo and other fighters are talking about Benavidez-Plant. There’s a buzz building for the first significant fight in 2023.
Plant knows the odds, yet believes he has an edge because of his experience. He’s been where Benavidez has not, he says. It’s a comment that has echoes of what Canelo said during a news conference after his trilogy-ending victory over Gennadiy Golovkin in September. That’s when he angrily shut the door on any immediate prospect of a date with Benavidez.
“This is [Benavidez’s] first big fight,’’ Plant told reporters after a rancorous news conference in downtown LA on Feb. 2. “This ain’t my first big fight. I’ve been here before. I’ve been on the big stage more than once.”
He has, exactly once.
In his lone loss, Canelo delivered a punishing beatdown, scoring an 11th-round TKO on Nov. 6, 2021, also at Vegas’ MGM Grand. Plant’s comment suggests that he doesn’t believe Benavidez has had to deal with the kind of adversity that comes with a defeat under boxing’s brightest lights. It appears Plant learned from the loss. He has a new trainer in Stephen “Breadman” Edwards and some newfound power, which he flashed in a stoppage of Anthony Dirrell in one of last year’s most sensational knockouts.
“A lot of the people that [Benavidez has] fought have been one dimensional,’’ Plant said. “IQ has been decent, but not even the same universe as what I am able to do on fight night.
“I can do a lot of things.”
But Dirrell is the reference point that says Benavidez-Plant is a pick ‘em fight. Both beat Dirrell — Plant in the ninth round of a bout last October in Brooklyn and Benavidez, also in the ninth of a September 2019 bout in Los Angeles.
Plant ended it with a big left hand. Benavidez simply wore down Dirrell, beating him into submission with relentless pressure and forcing his corner to throw in the towel. At the time of each stoppage, each led on the cards by similar scores. It was Plant, 79-73, 80-72, 79-73. It was Benavidez, 78-74, 79-73, 78-74.
A possible key to a Benavidez’ advantage might be what’s not on the Phoenix-born fighter’s record. He sparred with Dmitry Bivol, the 2022 Fighter of the Year, before Bivol’s masterful upset of Canelo in a light-heavyweight bout last May. Bivol’s stunning performance put him alongside today’s very best in terms of boxing skill. Plant talked about IQ. Bivol’s IQ ranks at the top of the scale. For Benavidez, those rounds of sparring might have been an education, an invaluable lesson plan.
It’s evident that Benavidez and Bivol emerged from the sparring with mutual respect. Benavidez said he was not surprised by Bivol’s upset of Canelo. He saw what he could do in the gym.
Before Bivol’s decision over Canelo, he was asked about Benavidez and whether he deserves a shot at the Mexican star, boxing’s biggest pay-per-view draw.
“He has enough to get the fight and win the fight,’’ Bivol said last year at a news conference announcing his date with Canelo. “Why not? He has good skill. Good combinations, good defense and lots of conditioning.’’
Just enough, perhaps, to beat Plant.