By Sean Jones: David Benavidez says the only reason IBF 168-lb champion Caleb Plant is asking for $10 million to fight Canelo Alvarez is being he’s “scared” and doesn’t believe he can win their clash on September 11th.
So instead of agreeing to $8 million, which Benavidez thinks Plant can get, he’s pushing hard for $10M.
Should Canelo give Plant $10 million?
We don’t know yet if Canelo and his promoters at Matchroom Boxing will give Plant the $10 million for the match.
Canelo’s last opponent, former WBO 168lb champion Billy Joe Saunders received $8 million, and former WBA champion Callum Smith got $6 million.
Plant would seem to fall into the $6 million range, given that he’s not popular and he likely won’t be much help in promoting the fight on PPV. A take it or leave it $6 million offer from Canelo would make sense.
If Plant doesn’t agree to this number, Canelo can move on and face IBF/WBC 175-lb champion Artur Betebriev (16-0, 16 KOs) or WBA champion Dimitry Bivol.
In the meantime, Plant should earn the fight with Canelo by fighting Benavidez with the winner to face the Mexican star in a single-match eliminator.
Canelo needs an opponent with a ton of charisma, or someone the boxing public believes has a good chance of beating him.
Plant has neither of those things going for him. Fans don’t think he can win against Canelo, and he sure as heck isn’t charismatic.
According to Benavidez, Plant should take the fight with Canelo for $8M, and if he beats him, he can get the bigger money that he wants.
But the way that Plant is pushing for the most money possible for the Canelo fight in September suggests that he doesn’t believe he can win.
The former two-time WBC super middleweight champion Benavidez (24-0, 21 KOs) says he wouldn’t ask for $10 million if he were to fight Canelo.
He believes his fight with Alvarez would be more fan-friendly for the boxing world than a match between Canelo and Plant (21-0, 12 KOs).
Plant wants $10 million because he’s scared
“Caleb Plant is making the argument that he wants $10 million because he’s the missing piece of the puzzle that Canelo needs to unify the world titles,” said David Benavidez to Fighthype.
“It doesn’t really make sense, but Caleb Plant is going to be Caleb Plant. He thinks he calls the shots, and he thinks he’s the A-side.
“He thinks he’s a philosopher with the kind of s*** he says. I don’t think he’s in the kind of position to call the shots he wants to call.
“Obviously, he’s asking for ten million dollars. I don’t think he’s going to get that.
“I think he’ll get eight million dollars, and that’s more than enough. Like I said, if he believes in himself and believes in his skills, that the fight, beat Canelo like how you think you’re going to beat Canelo and then you’re the man.
“That’s why he’s asking for the extra $2 million because he’s scared in his head. Insurance, exactly. It’s going to be what it’s going to be,” said Benavidez about Plant.
It’s up to Canelo whether he wants to indulge Caleb Plant by giving him the $10 million.
DAZN will obviously have their own view of whether the Canelo vs. Plant fight is worthy of dumping a bunch of money into it. There are much better fights out there for Canelo than Plant.
Great options for Canelo:
- Artur Beterbiev
- David Benavidez
- Gennadiy Golovkin
- Dimitry Bivol
- Jermall Charlo
- Demetrius Andrade
- Gilberto Ramirez
- Joshua Buatsi
Benavidez WON’T ask for $10M for Canelo fight
“If you’re not prepared, and you’re not ready to fight, then don’t take the fight,” Benavidez said about Caleb Plant.
“If you believe in yourself and you believe in your skills, then go in and take the fight.
“Take the $8 million or whatever they want to pay you and prove everybody wrong, and then you’re still the man, and you’ve got all the belts.
“But that’s how these people don’t believe in themselves as I believe in myself. If I fight Canelo, I’m not going to be asking for ten million dollars.
“And obviously, a fight between Canelo and me will be way more appealing to the crowd than a fight between him and Caleb Plant.
“We’re both coming forward; we’re looking for the fights all the time. Right now, I just got to worry about myself and work extremely hard,” said Benavidez.
That’s a sign of humility that Benavidez won’t ask for $10 million for a fight with Canelo.
Benavidez’s willingness to take less than what Plant is asking for shows you that he believes he can win. If Benavidez beats Canelo, the money that he’ll make in the rematch would be huge.
Moreover, Benavidez’s paydays for his future fights would be out of this world good.
A win over Canelo would take Benavidez to another level pay bracket, just as we saw how Floyd Mayweather Jr became a big money fighter after beating Oscar De La Hoya.
