By Sean Jones: Jose Benavidez Sr. has revealed that Caleb Plant has “declined” the fight with David Benavidez for September. After trash-talking the highly ranked #1 WBC super middleweight contender Benavidez (25-0, 22 KOs), Plant backed out.
Jose Sr. said they reached out to Team Plant and they “declined to fight David Benavidez.” It took Caleb Plant less than a day to turn down the fight with Benavidez after talking a whole lot of mess on social media.
Plant shot himself in the foot by turning down the fight with Benavidez because the boxing world is going to take notice of this and view it as a duck job by Caleb.
Plant is now expected to fight 37-year-old former Benavidez knockout victim Anthony Dirrell next. That’s a poor choice of opponent, as Dirrell is over-the-hill, and not the fighter he once was 10+ years ago when he was in his prime.
Dirrell looked terrible losing to Benavidez and struggling to beat Avni Yildirim in 2019. Yes, this is the same Yildirim that Canelo Alvarez obliterated in three rounds last year in February 2021. Dirrell having to struggle to beat Yildirim shows how washed he is at 37.
It looks weak on Plant’s part to decline the fight with Benavidez after talking trash on social media, making it look like he was interested.
This is disappointing news because there were a lot of boxing fans that wanted to see the former IBF 168-lb champion Plant (21-1, 12 KOs) take on Benavidez.
With Plant coming off an 11th round knockout loss to Canelo Alvarez last November, he needed this fight with Benavidez more than the other way around. The only gain Benavidez would have gotten fighting Plant would be to knock him out quicker than Canelo did.
Plant gave his reasons for declining the fight by saying that Benavidez was trying to set up a fight with him despite him already scheduled to face former IBF 160-lb champion David Lemieux on May 21st.
It’s unclear why it bothered Plant that Benavidez would be looking to schedule a fight before his match against Lemieux (43-4, 36 KOs). After all, the 33-year-old Lemieux is viewed as easy work for Benavidez.
In hindsight, Benavidez had to know that Plant would never fight him, particularly now with him coming off an 11th round knockout loss to Canelo Alvarez.
Plant never showed interest in fighting Benavidez in the past, so why would he be willing to fight him now after a loss to Canelo?
Lemieux has faced exclusively weak opposition since his one-sided 12 round unanimous decision loss to Billy Joe Saunders in 2017.
“He had a fight signed before me, then I get a fight signed, then he says some 🧢 and y’all believe it. When are y’all going to learn that I don’t have to hide or lie about anything? I haven’t proved my character yet?” said Caleb Plant on Twitter in making an excuse for why he shouldn’t fight David Benavidez in September.
“So while in camp for one fight his team is already negotiating for the next one?😂😂😂,” said Plant about Benavidez but failing to mention that his fight is a sure-thing win against an overmatched David Lemieux.
It seems like a weak excuse on Plant’s part to be declining the fight with Benavidez just because he’s scheduled to fight the 33-year-old Lemieux on May 21st. How does Plant not know that Benavidez-Lemieux is a sick mismatch?
Lemieux hasn’t beaten anyone of note since his third round knockout win over Curtis Stevens in 2017.
After Benavidez beats Lemieux, he’ll move forward to face Demetrius Andrade for the WBO mandatory spot at 168. That fight will take place later this year.
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