The kick-off press conference is just a taste of what’s to come. The Factory David Benavidez-Caleb The pay-per-view clash during showtimes at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, March 25 will be a top-level drama.
“On March 25, I make sure I take out Caleb Plant before the sixth round,” Benavidez, 26, a two-time WBC super middleweight champion, told Plant at the tumultuous press conference. “This is a war that has been going on for the past five years and it comes at a better time. Right now I am in the best state mentally and physically. On March 25, I finally got my hands on Caleb Plant.
“When you lie on the ground bleeding, you learn to respect a real boxer. I am what you want to be. You are an asshole.”
“I’m coming,” Plant, the former IBF super middleweight champion, said when it was his turn to take the podium. “Prepared. I’ve been at this level before and I know what it takes. Between now and March 25, it’s just a matter of who can train the hardest and keep the gas pedal on.
“…This is a legacy fight for me and my team. On March 25, I found myself raising my hand.”
The bad blood Benavidez-Plant is real and it’s intense. Security forces had to separate the boxers and their teams several times during the kick-off press event.
But Benavidez-Plant is more than just a tough opponent on his way to the ring. Super middleweight competition, technically for the 168 lb WBC title. Benavidez’s interim, was a clash between two of the top three ranked boxers in the division. It’s also an incredibly compelling clash of styles, pitting the all-powerful, belligerent Benavidez against the more nuanced stylist Plant.
By the way, it’s also a big fight for the super-middleweight class.
Former middleweight champion Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andradefor one, will seek to claim the winner as a way to put himself in the elite scene at 168 in the way that boxing politics prevented him from doing so at 160.
Andrade made his supermiddleweight debut this past January 7 with a unanimous decision in favor of Demond Nicholson on extra card Gervonta Davis-Hector Luis Garcia. The Providence, Rhode Island native has been eyeing the big fights with Plant and Benavidez since before he officially moved into the higher weight division.
“Yeah, the only way I can say I’m the best is to fight the best,” Andrade told Showtime’s Jim Gray after the match against Nicholson when asked if he wanted a Plant-Benavidez winner. or not.
Make sure to check out Massachusetts Sports Betting Promo Code as New England’s Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade will wait to see the outcome of this fight as either boxer could be a potential future opponent.
Aside from Andrade, other longtime players in the division will be very interested in Benavidez-Plant. Notably, there’s the “regular” WBA super-middleweight champion, David Morrell, 25, and Jermall Charlo, the WBC middleweight champion boxer, who is likely to move up to 168 in the near future.
At the top of the table, of course, is Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, the four-belt unification champion, who had a TKO victory over Plant. Alvarez was supposed to take on British rival John Ryder on May 6, but will most likely feel the real pressure playing against winner Benavidez-Plant afterwards.
All in all, expect a high-profile fight on March 25 between Caleb Plant and David Benavidez with big impacts on the super-middleweight category.
