Eddie Hearn says David Benavidez could get his long-awaited fight against Canelo Alvarez if he comes through his March 25th match against Caleb ‘Sweethands’ Plant.
If Plant (22-1, 13 KOs) comes out victorious against Benavidez, Hearn says that’s not an opponent that Canelo will bother fighting, seeing that he already knocked out ‘Sweethands’ in the eleventh round in 2021.
Therefore, it’s not an appealing match-up for Canelo given all the other exciting opponents that are out there for him to fight. Plant obviously doesn’t know that, as he believes that he’s got a shot at getting a lucrative rematch with Canelo.
If Plant didn’t think he had a chance of fighting Canelo again, he probably wouldn’t be taking the Benavidez fight because that’s a risky one in which he could get knocked out or, at the very least, badly beaten up in losing a grueling 12 round decision against the young 26-year-old ‘Mexican Monster.’
Hearn states that Benavidez would get his shot against Canelo (58-2-2, 39 KOs) after the Mexican star’s rematch with Dmitry Bivol in September.
What’s unclear is whether Canelo will still be the undisputed super middleweight champion at that point because his rematch with Bivol will be for his four 168-lb titles.
If Canelo loses that fight, he’ll be beltless, meaning that his match against Benavidez won’t have any straps on the line unless the WBC whips one up in a jiffy.
Thankfully, you can always count on the World Boxing Council to produce one of their belts for significant fights without any titles.
“It’s a great fight and exactly the kind of fight that we need to see,” said Eddie Hearn to Boxing Social about the Caleb Plant vs. David Benavidez fight on March 25th.
“Obviously, Canelo has already knocked out Caleb Plant. Even if Caleb Plant beats Benavidez, I’m not sure that’s the fight [for Canelo]. But Benavidez against Canelo, I feel that’s a big fight.
“I’ve always said that Benavidez is looking for these fights, but you have to have them. So if Benavidez comes through Plant, which is a really good fight, then he puts himself. There will be a lot of people pressuring that fight after Canelo fights Dmitry Bivol,” said Hearn.
We’ll have to see if Canelo shows interest in fighting Benavidez after his rematch with Bivol in September. Assuming Canelo loses to Bivol again, he will probably want a confidence booster rather than taking on Benavidez.