By Norm Frauenheim –
LAS VEGAS — Nobody blinked, but David Benavidez got the face-off he wanted Thursday with Caleb Plant after the final news conference for their super-middleweight grudge match Saturday at the MGM Grand .
“I’m real happy we were able to get that face-off,” Benavidez said after he and Plant exchanged threats and profanities during a few tense moments on a stage at the casino’s KA Theater.
Benavidez and father/trainer Jose Benavidez Sr, expressed doubts Wednesday that the face-off would happen.
“I was very surprised that it did,” Benavidez Sr. said. “There was never any chance that anything bad was going to happen. It wasn’t like I going to throw a punch.”
But his son did throw some verbal shots during what was just another extension of a long-running feud.
“I’m going to send you to the hospital,” he said to Plant as they stood eyeball-to-eyeball, each flanked by security guards.
Security finally stepped in between them, breaking off the face-off. As they were led to opposite ends of the stage, Plant pointed at Benavidez with a hand cocked like a loaded weapon.
“He said what I thought he would, what he’s supposed to say,” Plant told reporters and a small crowd of fans, including ex-heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.
Tyson is the first to call Benavidez “The Mexican Monster”, a nickname that is beginning to supplaint his first nickname, “The Red Flag.”
When the Showtime pay-per-view card (6 pm PT/9 pm ET) was formally announced at a newser in Los Angeles on February 2, the two had to be separated twice.
It’s not clear whether the two will do another face-off Friday after the official weigh-in. During the formal part of the newser Thursday, each was asked what the fans could expect in a fight that could lead to a shot at undisputed super-middleweight champion Canelo Alavrez..
“You’re going to see my hand get raised,” Plant said.
Then, Benavidez delivered a chilling counter:
“You’re going to see me break his jaw, that ‘s what the fans are going to see,” he said.
Photo by Esther Lin / SHOWTIME
