Nonito Donaire says David Benavidez should follow the blueprint created by Canelo Alvarez on how to break Caleb Plant with steady pressure when they meet on March 25th on Showtime pay-per-view at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Donaire believes that Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) has got to be himself and fight the way he normally does for him to defeat the former IBF super middleweight champion Plant (22-1, 13 KOs).
It would be a mistake on Benavidez’s part to begin changing the way he fights for this match because that would be foolish, particularly if he tries to outbox Plant because he’s not going to be able to pull that off.
Plant already showed how he will fight Benavidez in his last fight against former two-time WBC 168-lb champion Anthony Dirrell last October.
The 30-year-old ‘Sweethands’ Plant was in motion for three minutes of every round up until he finally stopped in the ninth long enough to throw a blistering fast left hook that caught the 38-year-old Dirrell by surprise, knocking him unconscious.
In a classless move, Plant then celebrated his knockout by stimulating shoveling dirt over the still-unconscious Dirrell. For Plant to make that move, he must have had a lot of dislike for Dirrell. Hopefully, we don’t see anything like that from Plant in this fight against Benavidez.
Plant must use lateral movement
“I think Caleb has to work on his speed and his lateral movement. I think using his jab properly and not staying there,” said Nonito Donaire to Fighthype about what Caleb Plant must do to defeat David Benavidez on March 25th.
“What he did with Canelo is that when Canelo threw something, he stopped instead of kept moving. I think that was his biggest learning lesson that he can use in this fight so he can box him well, throw that jab and step around and not pause when his opponents attacking him.
“Feints can do him wonders. The jab, feint, and straight overhand. There’s a lot of things he can do, but he’s got to be disciplined, especially when you’ve got a guy like Benavidez.
“I think Benavidez has got to do what he always does. Go out there and use his power and his onslaught. He’s the bigger guy. Use that reach. Go out there and pressure. We know in the Canelo fight with Plant, he succumbed to the pressure.
“Granted, Canelo was slipping a lot of those punches. That could be a big difference in this fight I think Benavidez, he should go out there, use that jab, set all those straight punches, and come out with the volume punches like he does.
Benavidez needs nonstop pressure
“Use his heavy hands. Keep pressuring, and pressuring, and not give Plant any time to think or set up.
“It fires you up when the s**t talking is there. When all of this is coming in the heat of the moment and emotion is running wild. Some people fight better that way. I don’t know how Benavidez is. He might go all out because he’s never been to this point where he’s really emotional when it comes down to it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfM1cbP13r0
“I seen a lot of the videos when he’s coming up to Caleb and the s**t talking, and he’s going and creating stuff for Plant and talking all this stuff. Maybe he’s getting to Caleb’s head too. I don’t know. One thing about Caleb, he does perform when he’s pressured in that way.
“In the Dirrell fight, it was a difficult fight until that knockout. So perhaps it could be the other way around, where he’s affected by it because that onslaught of energy coming from Benavidez.
“Everywhere they go, they go at him. That could affect him. We don’t know how he reacts to it until they get in the ring. I do know that Benavidez is dictating this emotion. He’s running for Plant, and Plant is kind of chilled.
“We don’t know if Benavidez is emotionally invested in the fight. He’s out there to win and knock people out, but this time around, that emotion is running a little bit higher than usual.
“It’s a great fight; it’s a fight people want to watch. This is one of those fights, ‘We got to see this fight,'” said Donaire about the Plant vs. Benavidez clash.