By: Sean Crose
Former super-middle world player Caleb Plant will face David Benavidez in the pay-per-view main event on March 25 during Showtime. The fight, which was supposed to take place at the MGM Grand in Vegas, has been long awaited. Indeed, Plant reported late last year that the match was signed. However, an actual date and place provides the public with a necessary sense of certainty. This is boxing, after all, a sport where anything can’t happen (it’s not a typo).
Plant used to hold the IBF world super middleweight belt, which he lost to Canelo Alvarez in a tough fight in 2021. Since then, the man has returned, beating Anthony Dirrell at the end of the year. back explosively. With that in mind, Plant hopes to once again bring Canelo into the ring, not only to avenge the lone loss on his résumé, but possibly to claim the uncontested super-middleweight title. controversy that Canelo currently holds. Although he knocked out Dirrell in the ninth round last October, Plant is more known for his ring skills than his finishing prowess.
Benavidez, on the other hand, is known for being a knockout machine. All but three of the men’s 26 wins have come in the gap. In fact, the last time a Benavidez match was recorded on the referee’s scorecard was in early 2018 – 6 games ago. Like Plant, the 26-year-old Phoenix native loves playing against Canelo. First, however, he will have to beat the former world champion 22-1. If nothing else, this fight represents a battle of contrasting styles. Perhaps even more interesting is the fact that neither fighter shows much interest in the opponent.
The winner of this match will own the WBC interim super middleweight belt, currently held by Benavidez. The winner will also become Canelo’s mandatory WBC, so there’s nothing like nothing here. All in all, though, this is an interesting matchup (on paper at least) between two quality contenders who will have plenty of advantages in the match. Judging by how Plant dealt with Dirrell and how Benavidez took out David Lemieux in his final ring fight, this could have been a very interesting matchup. Will it be enough to impress Canelo? The answer to that question will come on March 25.
