By Dan Ambrose: David Benavidez says he wants to fight former IBF super middleweight champion Caleb ‘Sweethands’ Plant after he faces David Lemieux in the spring for the interim WBC 168-lb title.
Ideally, Benavidez (25-0, 22 KOs) wants to challenge Canelo Alvarez for his WBC super middleweight title, but if he’s unable to get that fight after beating Lemieux (43-4, 36 KOs), then he wants Plant.
There’s bad blood between the former two-time WBC 168-lb champion Benavidez, 25, and Plant from the back and forth trash-talking they’ve done recently.
Unfortunately, Plant isn’t in a hurry to get back in the ring after his recent eleventh round knockout loss to Canelo on November 6th in Las Vegas. Plant recently called out Jermall Charlo, telling him that he would like to fight him at the end of 2022.
Some believe that the main reason the 29-year-old Plant isn’t in a hurry to get back in the ring is because of the massive $10 million paydays he received in his unification fight with Canelo.
With that kind of money, there’s no need for Plant to get back in action anytime soon, particularly against a dangerous former world champion in Benavidez.
Benavidez says Plant “all talk no bite”
“I know I’m going to get Caleb Plant eventually. I would have f**** Caleb Plant up right there,” said David Benavidez to Fighthype in remembering how Plant “sucker-punched” his brother Jose Benavidez Jr. during an argument.
“We all would have f**** Caleb Plant up,” Benavidez continued. “Just like his coach got beat up, you all seen the video.
“But after the fact that he got beat up, Caleb Plant was all over my brother. ‘Oh yeah, I got so much respect for you’ and this and that. The next day, that’s what happened.
“Then the next day, he goes up on Instagram talking all kinds of s***. That’s the kind of person Caleb Plant is, bro. He’s all talk, no bite. That’s why he got knocked out and got made to look like a b*** against Canelo Alvarez,” said Benavidez.
Plant tagged Benavidez’s brother Jose Benavidez Jr. with a sucker punch at the gym a while back. David’s desire to fight Plant likely has some to do with him tagging his brother.
Plant’s 9th round conversation with Canelo
Benavidez was put off by Plant’s conversation with Canelo during the ninth round of their fight last November. He saw it as a case of Plant not only looking for validation and reassurance from Canelo but also for him to take it easy on him.
Canelo didn’t ease up on Plant after their conversation, as two rounds later, he knocked him out in the eleventh round. After the fight, Plant told Canelo that he didn’t want the fight to be stopped.
However, he’d been dropped twice by the Mexican star, leaving the referee no choice but to halt the contest because Plant couldn’t stay on his feet.
“I knew he was going to get knocked out. The thing about Caleb Plant is he has no power,” Benavidez on Plant’s 11th round knockout loss to Canelo last November.
“He has good little pop shots, but that can only take you so far. I mean, Canelo was dominating him every round.
“It was only a matter of time before he got knocked out, and he did. Let me tell you what I think about that,” said Benavidez when asked about his reaction to Plant, saying to Canelo during the ninth round, “Do you think I’m pretty good?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JLGlFXK5XA
“I felt like he [Plant] said that and after that round and I’ve seen the video, and I’m like, ‘This guy probably thinks they’re friends in the ring, and he’s not going to knock him out,'” said Benavidez about Plant’s conversation with Canelo during the ninth round last November.
“Sometimes, I feel like that’s the type of s*** that happens. Who has a conversation and says, ‘You know what? You think I’m pretty good, right? I’m pretty good for 21-0, right?’ I already felt like he [Plant] was already mentally beat.
“He probably thought that they were already cool and that he’s not going to try and knock me out. Then in the 11th round, Canelo comes out and knocks his a** out.
“I mean, I just thought that was kind of funny. It was kind of silly, but that’s my opinion on that. He [Plant] probably was surprised himself [that he had lasted that long in the fight].
“That’s what I’m saying. Asking another fighter if you think you’re good during a world title fight like that, it’s kind of silly to me,” said Benavidez.
Many boxing fans saw it as a sign of weakness on Plant’s part that he chose to have a running conversation with Canelo during the ninth round in a vital unification fight.
Benavidez wants Plant after Lemieux
“He has an eye injury? I don’t know,” said Benavidez when asked how he sees Plant coming back from his loss to Canelo.
“I didn’t know anything about an eye injury, but I’m sure he’ll come back. He has to bring his a** back so I can beat his a**. I want that fight,” said Benavidez about him still wanting to face Plant despite his knockout loss to Canelo.
“Like I said, people don’t want to fight me for a reason. I’ve been here for a long, long time already. I’m still top three, top two. I’m fighting for another interim belt. So I feel like that puts me in a better position too.
“I feel like if for some reason, I don’t get a Canelo fight after this one, I’m going to have the interim belt, and I would love to fight. Well, I need to win the interim belt first, and then I would love to fight Caleb Plant after that if we can’t get Canelo,” said Benavidez.
It’s a waste of time for Benavidez to count on Canelo giving him a fight after he faces Lemieux in the spring. Canelo isn’t going to fight Benavidez, and he’ll likely vacate his WBC title once the World Boxing Council orders him to defend against him.
If not that, Canelo could ask the WBC to make him Franchise champion so he would never have to fight Benavidez.