David Benavidez removed what could be the final hurdle separating him from his long-awaited fight against Canelo Alvarez by defeating Caleb Plant by a 12 round unanimous decision last Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Although Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs) won the fight by a clear-cut decision, he looked vulnerable throughout against Plant (22-2, 13 KOs) and struggled early, losing the first five rounds on one judge’s scorecard.
The way Benavidez looked, he might not be ready for a talented fighter like Canelo Alvarez, and it could be a mistake for him to go in that direction.
Benavidez not ready for Canelo
Against Plant, Benavidez looked flat-footed and defensively lacking as he’s always been, showing no improvement in his game and not on the level of a Canelo and certainly not Dmitry Bivol.
We heard Benavidez saying he thinks he can beat Bivol. That’s a deluded pipe dream on his part because he would get a boxing lesson if he moved up to 175 to challenge Bivol (21-0,11 KOs) for his WBA light heavyweight title.
At the post-fight press conference, Benavidez mentioned having several opponents that he could fight ahead of Canelo from this list:
- David Morrell
- Demetrius Andrade
- Jermall Charlo
The first one on the list is Morrell, and that’s an easy fight to make because the Cuban fighter is promoted by the same guy as Benavidez. Andrade and Charlo might not be possible. The way that Charlo was slurring his words last Saturday in Las Vegas, it’s unlikely he’ll be returning to action to fight Benavidez or any other boxer, for that matter.
“I was super proud of David, the ‘Mexican Monster.’ I told people that you’re going to see something different because a lot of people say that he just comes forward, has no defense, is flat-footed, this and that. Did you guys see any flat-footed? Did you guys see that he was lacking defense and cutting the real real well?” said Jose Benavidez Sr to Fino Boxing about David Benavidez’s performance against Caleb Plant last Saturday night.
“He was doing a lot of things you guys never seen, but these are the kind of fighters that display the experience and all that. Like I said, Caleb Plant got a lot of experience with Canelo. It bumped his confidence way up. He knew he was fighting David. He had to focus and train hard. We could see that. He came short.
“David is only 26 years old. I’m just thinking in two or three years, you’re going to see a different ‘Mexican Monster.’ Yeah, he came over,” said Jose Sr when asked if he spoke to Plant after the fight.
“He came over and I could see the sincerity of his heart. He said, ‘You know what, Mr. Benavidez. We were just trying to build the fight.’ Then I just lt my guard down and gave him a hug. I said, ‘Me too.’ Then I said, ‘I never said nothing about your daughter, man.’
“He said, ‘Can you say sorry?’ I said, ‘You know what, if that’s going to make it, sorry, bro.’ I would never do that. He said, ‘I don’t think we can ever be friends.’ I said, ‘We’re friends now. We can be friends.’ I’ve got more respect for him now. I can’t live around hating people. I don’t hate anybody,” said Benavidez Sr.
