Victor Ortiz believes that David Benavidez will defeat Caleb ‘Sweethands’ Plant when the two fight on a still-to-be-determined date in 2023.
Ortiz thinks that former two-time WBC super middleweight champion Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) will be “too relentless” for former IBF champion Plant (22-1, 13 KOs) in this fight.
Plant looked good in his last fight against Anthony Dirrell on October 15th, knocking him out in the ninth round, but it’ll be tougher for him to try that against Benavidez.
Benavidez and Plant are fighting with the hopes that the winner will be in the pole position to challenge Canelo Alvarez for his undisputed 168-lb championship.
As the WBC mandatory and interim champion, Benavidez is already in a position to challenge Canelo for his WBC title, but the World Boxing Council still hasn’t ordered the fight for some reason.
It’s unknown if the WBC is using Canelo’s Franchise belt he had at 160 as their reason for not ordering him to defend against Benavidez.
If so, it was pointless for Benavidez to fight for the interim WBC 168-lb title and the mandatory spot if the current champion Canelo wouldn’t have to face him due to his Franchise belt.
“Caleb just knocked out one of my boys [Anthony Dirrell] that we were on the USA team together,” said ‘Vicious’ Victor Ortiz to Fight Hub TV about Caleb Plant knocking out Anthony Dirrell in the ninth round on October 15th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
“We were all on team USA together with Shawn Porter, Dirrell, all of us. I didn’t like seeing that, but it’s part of the game, part of the sport.
“I think personally, a non-biased opinion, I go for David Benavidez, but that’s just me. I don’t know much about boxing. I just think Benavidez is young, he’s relentless, and he’s coming for what is his.
“Absolutely, yes. Absolutely,” said Ortiz when asked if Benavidez would deserve a shot against Canelo if he beats Plant.
“Benavidez,” said Ortiz when asked for a prediction on a fight between Benavidez and Canelo Alvarez. “He’s too powerful, too big, too careless, and he’s coming.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, but it’s always been in a lower weight class,” said Ortiz when told that Canelo has a better resume than Benavidez. “This guy’s [Benavidez] career is there [at 168].
“It almost goes back to the Bivol type thing. It’s a super welterweight, middleweight [Canelo] versus a light heavyweight. It’s two different worlds, man,” said Ortiz.
