By: Sean Crose
Caleb Plant was thirty years old. He has a professional boxing record with 22 wins and one loss. That single defeat came at the gloved hands of the sport’s biggest name, Canelo Alvarez. It cost Plant the IBF super world title he held for almost three years. Now he hopes to earn himself another world title. First, though, Plant has to get through a tough shot from David Benavidez this weekend in Las Vegas.
Benavidez, to put it mildly, is not sloppy. In fact, he himself has twice held the WBC super middleweight world belt. He was stripped of that title twice, for cocaine and for being underweight. Needless to say, Benevidez also wants another world championship title. First, though he has to pass Plant on Saturday. The task is not easy, as Plant is one of the best boxers in the fighting game.
Unfortunately, Plant and Benavidez – who obviously don’t like each other the most – would consider it the main event of the pay-per-view attraction. This is, of course, a pity because pay-per-view is currently helping to cripple contemporary boxing. However, there is no denying that Plant-Benevidez is a worthy and attractive competitor. It was, to be sure, a big fight. Just to be clear, it was a big fight where the world title wasn’t at stake (albeit the smaller one).
Like this spring’s upcoming super fight between Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia, Plant-Benevidez proves that the world championship isn’t the ultimate goal of boxing. That’s especially true for the current boxing scene, where some champions simply won’t fall in the big game. While world titles are no doubt important, the lack of world titles shouldn’t – and probably won’t – be detrimental to a battle’s relevance.
The winner of this Saturday’s bout will most likely have a chance to face divisional boss Canelo in a match as all major titles in the super-middleweight will be at stake. Of course, that would be a huge problem. Those belts won’t be the only thing that makes the fight with Canelo so intriguing, though.
With all that said, part of the appeal of this weekend’s bout is the stylistic contrast between the two boxers. Plant’s ingenuity, combined with Benevidez’s thunderous prowess, makes for a classic boxer vs. boxer match, without the need for a world title.
