By Sean Jones: Trainer Jose Benavidez Sr predicts that Canelo Alvarez will destroy IBF super middleweight champion Caleb Plant in September and send him skittering into retirement.
Benavidez Sr says that after Canelo (56-1-2, 38 KOs) makes short work of Plant (21-0, 12 KOs) in their fight for the undisputed 168-lb championship in September. He won’t have any other choice but to fight former two-time WBC champion David Benavidez.
At the same time, Jose worries that Canelo will continue to run from his son David Benavidez. Once Canelo captures the last remaining title at 168, there won’t be any point in keeping them all because he’ll have already unified the division.
Benavidez Sr. hoping Canelo doesn’t duck his son
The only way Benavidez can force Canelo to fight him is if he chooses to hold onto his WBC title. He’s currently mandatory for that belt, but even then, it’s not a certainty that he would get the fight.
Canelo is the WBC Franchise champion at 160, and according to the World Boxing Council president Mauricio Sulaiman, that belt enables him to bypass his mandatories at 168.
Being a Franchise champion is the equivalent of being the King in a game of chess. You can move in any direction. It’s great if you’re the Franchise champion but terrible, potentially if you’re mandatory for his WBC belt. With that Franchise tag, Canelo can freeze Benavidez out permanently.
Benavidez Sr: Plant will retire after Canelo destroys him
“He’s still active, he’s fighting August 28th,” said Jose Benavidez to Fighthype on David Benavidez fighting Jose Uzcategui on August 28th. “We can’t make Canelo fight David.
“Canelo does whatever he wants in boxing. He generates a lot of money. I think he calls the shots, but eventually, after Caleb Plant, he doesn’t have a choice.
“He can still run. I don’t understand why he doesn’t want to fight David. If he’s so easy, why not take the fight? I think he’s going to destroy Caleb Plant in my eyes.
“Saunders was a better fighter [than Plant], with more experience, more slick. Caleb Plant is going to make more money than he’s ever made in his life, but I think he’s going to retire after his fight,” said Benavidez Sr.
You can’t put it past Plant in choosing to retire from the sport if he gets destroyed by Canelo in September. If Plant gets a payday of $10 million+, it’s going to be awfully hard for him to go back to receiving the smaller paychecks of a contender.
That’s a lot of green for Plant to be getting for one fight. Getting that much money will make it hard for Plant to find the motivation to restart his career.
Moreover, Plant may not like the idea of having to slug his way to a title shot in the aftermath by going up against the talented lions in the division like Carlos Gongora, Edgar Berlanga, or Aidos Yerbossynuly.
If Plant had to beat one of those guys to win his IBF super-middleweight title, he likely would have never captured that belt.
Plant won his IBF belt from the badly flawed Jose Uzcategui in 2019, and he didn’t look great winning that fight. Uzcategui staggered Plant in the later rounds after he gassed out in the second half of the fight.
David Benavidez wants Canelo after Plant
“I think the power is going to overwhelm Caleb Plant,” said lightweight prospect Jose ‘El Roya’ Valenzuela about Canelo being too strong.
“It’ll only be a matter of time before he stops him in the sixth round. David [Benavidez] is the fight to be made [against Canelo].
“That’s the fight that everybody wants to see. If you ask the fans if they want to see David [Benavidez] vs. Canelo or Caleb vs. Canelo, and everyone is going to say, ‘David,'” said Roya Valenzuela
“It’s going to be fireworks between two Mexican fighters. I think David gets the victory. We’re not thinking about going up to 175 right now. David has no problems making 168.
“We’re ready to take that fight with Canelo. I think everybody is fighting the wrong fight with Canelo. Everybody is scared, and moving around.
“They’re making Canelo look like a superstar, chasing him down, cutting the ring off.
“When he fights David Benavidez, that is going to be an exciting fight. We’re going to come forward. There are going to be no changes in how to fight Canelo.
“We’re just going to do what we do, fight on the inside, throw uppercuts on the inside, and use the jab a lot to got to the body,” said Benavidez Sr.
The talk of Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn of Canelo going on a world tour after he faces Plant in September suggests that he’s not going to be fighting Benavidez.
