By: Sean Crose
David Benavidez is definitely a good interview. Intelligent, insightful, and personable, he’s a pleasure to listen to. Indeed, the hard-hitting super middleweight recently had a very interesting interview with fight TV center in which he says that he can gain weight and defeat the conqueror of Canelo Alvarez Dmitry Bivol. “He’s very sharp,” Benavidez said of the lightweight (whom he’s played before), “so I’ll definitely have to come up with a good game plan for him.” However, Benavidez believes he has what it takes to beat the impressive Russian. “I knew in my heart I could beat Bivol,” he said.
However, Benavides has made it clear that he is fully focused on Caleb Plant at the moment, as the highly anticipated matchup between the two former world champions is less than two months away. “Everything went in the right direction,” the boxer said. “We played 12 rounds with the boys.” Benavides also worked with strength and conditioning master Memo Heredia, who he credits for helping to improve his preparation. “I know he’s done a lot of great things with a lot of great boxers,” Benavidez said. “I let him do his thing.” Benavidez added that he can feel the difference since working with Heredia.
“I feel faster and stronger than ever,” he said. “I think I’ve just got the perfect team now.” At the beginning of his first Pay-per-view main event, Benavidez seemed to be in high spirits. “I worked countless hours in the gym,” he said of training for the match against Plant. “I feel like this is my moment.” Benavidez later pointed out that he was working both inside and outside the gym to be at his best when the opening bell rang. “A fighter’s job is to watch movies about the person he’s fighting,” he says of studying footage of Plant in action. “This is why we are here. We are high level warriors.”
Watching the interview, it becomes clear that Benavidez truly respects his opponent, although it is clear that there is animosity between him and Plant. “It’s a little easier now to dedicate yourself,” he said of staying at the top of the fighting game. “We have a lot of feelings for me and Caleb Plant.” While no world titles are at stake, the Benavidez-Plant knockdown is remarkable, not only because a crack in the super-middleweight title currently held by Canelo is underway, but also because the question of who is the better of these two fighters will ultimately be answered. For the record: Benavidez caught on in the interview as if he already knew what the answer was.
“As a fighter, you just have to have a lot of confidence in yourself,” he said.
