Jose Benavidez: “David gave him [Plant] a beating”

By Dan Ambrose: Trainer Jose Benavidez Sr was pleased with the performance from his son WBC interim super middleweight champion David Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs), with the “beating” he inflicted on a spoiling Caleb Plant (22-2, 13 KOs) last Saturday night in his 12 round unanimous decision victory at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Plant’s head & face was reddened and badly swollen by the ninth round, showing the damage that Benavidez had done to him. The fight looked like it should have been stopped by the referee or Plant’s corner by the tenth round because he was taking a terrible beating from Benavidez.

It was clear after the seventh round that the 30-year-old former IBF 168-lb champion ‘Sweethands’ Plant was just trying to survive in the last five rounds of the contest to keep from getting knocked out by Benavidez.

Plant was continually clinching, running, throwing low blows, and trying to keep Benavidez from bludgeoning him with shots. The referee Kenny Bayless gave Plant a huge break by not penalizing him for his excessive holding because it was blatant what he was doing.

The scores

• 117-111
• 116-112
• 115-113

Benavidez inflicts beating on Plant

“I told everybody from the beginning that you’re going to see a different David. They said that he was flat-footed and had no defense and that he can’t cut the ring off,” said Jose Benavidez Sr to Fighthype after David Benavidez’s victory over Caleb Plant last Saturday night in Las Vegas.

“We figured him out, made some adjustments, and gave him a beating. I could see in the ninth and tenth rounds, his [Plant] corner wanted to stop the fight. They wanted to throw in the towel, but the referee [Kenny Bayless] gave them a big break and helped him a lot. He got hurt a lot of times. That changed things.

“I’m super satisfied that we didn’t get the knockout. There was a lot of drama in the fight, and that’s what made it interesting. I didn’t think he wanted to lose, so he did everything he could,”  said Benavidez Sr about Plant, who ran a lot and clinched excessively. “They had a great boxing plan, but we had a better one.

“We knew what was going to work. The most important thing was to stay low, move your head, and cut the ring off.

“He [Plant] was beating Canelo. He wasn’t beating David,” said Benavidez Sr. about Benavidez having done a better job against Plant than Canelo Alvarez did in their fight two years ago in November 2021.

“Canelo just came with one punch [in the 11th round], and that was the punch that hurt him and took him out, but David gave him a beating. So David proved today that he’s ready to face anyone and face Canelo. That’s the fight that everyone wants to see.

“Nah,” said Benavidez Sr when asked if they’ll be at ringside for Canelo’s fight against John Ryder on May 6th in Guadalajara, Mexico, in order to get in front of him and meet him. “That’s not going to do anything because he’s going to have to want to wake up and make the fight.

Three fights lined up for Benavidez

“The people already know David. It’s like me begging him to fight. We already have three fights lined up,” said Benavidez Sr. “We have a contract with Boo Boo Andrade, David Morrell is there, and Charlo is in there. That guy [Jermall Charlo] moves his mouth all the time. Let’s make it happen. He hasn’t fought in two years.

“Hell, no. He hasn’t fought in two years. No, no, no. He will never fight David Benavidez,”  Jose Sr said about Charlo. “He’s past his prime. He’s a champion, but he hasn’t defended his [WBC middleweight] belt for two years.

“He’s been drinking a lot. Every place he’s at, he’s drunk,” Jose Benavidez Sr. said about Jermall Charlo. “Everybody knows that. He’s just holding that belt there at 160. Not that I care because I don’t have anybody at 160.  I don’t care. He can hold him for whatever, but if he comes to 168, David will definitely f**k him up.

“I think he’ll stop him. Caleb Plant is a very disciplined kid, he maintains, but look what happened to him. What is going to happen to a drunk guy [Jermall Charlo]? He’s always drunk. Every time I see him, he’s always drunk. Come on, don’t do that in front of people. If you’re an athlete and you hold that belt? Why haven’t you fought in two years?

“He’s getting better and better as time goes by, and we proved it today. Caleb Plant is a good fighter. You could see with the speed and the footwork that he had. I think he learned a lot from Canelo from the experience he got and the motivation he had. He brought it all tonight but