David Benavidez Defeats Caleb Plant by Unanimous Decision, Wants Canelo Next
David Benavidez once said, “the little fat kid will never go away, he’s always going to be with me.” The interim WBC World Super Middleweight titlist and former two-time WBC super middleweight world champion was once a pudgy little kid who was bullied and derided.
The pent-up anger he carries has fueled a career that reached new heights Saturday night before a sellout crowd of 13,865 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, when Benavidez won a 12-round unanimous decision over former IBF super middleweight titlist Caleb Plant atop a Premier Boxing Champions event on SHOWTIME pay-per-view.
Judges Tim Cheatham (115-113), Dave Moretti (116-112) and Steve Weisfeld (117-111) had Benavidez winning by varied scores, though there was no doubt who won.
There was a lot of animosity between the two in the build-up for the fight, but that was settled afterward when they hugged it out and respectfully spoke to one another.
“I want to shout out Caleb Plant,” Benavidez said. “I know there was a lot said between us but in the end we settled this like men. He’s a helluva fighter. I’m happy we gave the fans the best rivalry of the year or the last five years. I’m just very happy.”
“We were never going to settle it before we got into the ring but we got into the ring and settled it like men. I took his hardest shots and he took my hardest shots and the good thing is that we’re still standing at the end of the day, and we can go back to our families.”
In the first 30 seconds, Plant came out in a surprise move, standing in the pocket. Plant pecked at Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs) with the jab, and immediately after the first clinch, referee Kenny Bayless warned Benavidez about roughhousing. There was little to no action in the opening stanza, though it was Plant that landed more.
It was an early tempo that worked well for Plant (22-2, 13 KOs) as his gameplan unfolded: Stay behind the jab and box, put rounds in the bank and each time he neared Benavidez, he would grab him.
“I was trying to hold him when necessary, punch him when necessary, and throw my combinations when necessary,” Plant said. “But when the best get in there with the best, you roll the dice and someone is going to come out with their hand raised and someone will come up short. And one thing that I pride myself on is that I roll with the best in the world. I haven’t ducked anyone and maybe we can have a rematch in the future.”
In the last 15 seconds of the second, Plant closed with a flurry of shots, including a right to the head and a left downstairs.
Benavidez’s first real sign of aggression was a left hook to the body within in the opening minute of the third. Near the end of the frame, which was Benavidez’s best round to that point, Bayless warned Benavidez about holding.
“Kenny Bayless is a helluva referee but he didn’t give Caleb Plant any warnings the whole fight,” Benavidez said. “But it is what it is and I still had to work through it. He was a tough fighter and we had figure out a way around that. It was a great fight.
“I knew I had to take it step by step and round by round. Caleb is a tough fighter. He’s not going to give you everything in the first few rounds so you have to find him. But I feel like I didn’t just show that I was a power puncher tonight. I showed that I had defense and head movement and I was able to move around the ring and cut the ring off really good. I hit him with a lot of hard shots. I would talk s–t but I like this guy now and I don’t want to keep it going.”
With 2:24 left in the fourth, a Plant combination bounced off of Benavidez’s face, forcing him backward. With 20 seconds left in the fourth, Benavidez connected with a left hook to the head, though Plant countered with a combination in the final 10 seconds.
Early in the fifth, Plant had Benavidez up against the ropes. There was one moment in the round when Benavidez motioned to Plant to stay in the middle of the ring and fight. Plant stuck to his plan although Benavidez was beginning to gather steam.
The momentum was in his favor by the end of the sixth as he got Plant’s attention with a left to the ribs. The “Mexican Monster” was now working the jab, cutting off the rib and digging to the body. Plant was slowing down.
In the middle of the seventh, Benavidez hurt Plant with a left hook, and 30 seconds later, Plant popped Benavidez’s head back with a straight left. However, it was clear the valiant Plant was struggling to keep Benavidez off him.
The eighth was particularly one-sided as a right hand in close quarters buckled Plant’s knees. The onslaught was on as Benavidez unloaded on his fatiguing opponent. At one point, Bayless stopped the action so the ringside doctor could look at a cut over Plant’s right eye.
Plant began the ninth with a hard low blow that caused Benavidez to wince in pain and elicited a stern warning from Bayless. Yet the round was more of the same as Benavidez poured it on behind a capacity crowd chanting his name.
And it seemed a matter of time before Plant would go. Benavidez uncorked a right uppercut that snapped Plant’s head back in the 10th. With 1:32 left, Benavidez popped another right uppercut that landed square on Plant’s head. In the last 30 seconds of the 10th, it was target practice on Plant.
Before the 11th, Plant’s trainer, Stephen “Breadman” Edwards, told his fighter that if he didn’t see more, he would call it. Each time Plant stepped to Benavidez to hold, Benavidez than began stepping back to open up distance to punch.
With his face covered in blood, Plant could barely stand nor defend himself. Yet he showed a warrior’s heart, bravely fighting to the end though outgunned.
Afterward, Benavidez made his intentions clear.
“I just want to tell everyone that I have a lot of respect for Canelo Alvarez but he has to give me that shot now,” Benavidez said. “That’s what everyone wants to see. Let’s make it happen. I don’t think Canelo is trying to avoid me. I just feel like he has a lot of options. But now the fans are calling for this fight, the legends are calling for this fight, so let’s make it happen.”
