By Huck Allen: Jose Benavidez Sr revealed on Friday that former 168-lb champions David Benavidez and Caleb ‘Sweethands’ Plant are in negotiations for a fight in September. This comes after the two fighters traded trash talk today on social media.
Benavidez Sr. said on Instagram on Friday they’re “closing a deal with Caleb Plant for September 2022.” This will be a massive fight that could wind up on Showtime PPV. There are millions to make in a Benavidez vs. Plant fight.
Moreover, the winner of the fight will be in a position to fight undisputed champion Canelo Alvarez if the Mexican star doesn’t choose to vacate his titles to move up to 175 permanently.
Former IBF champion Plant (21-1, 12 KOs) is coming off a thrilling undisputed 168-lb championship contest against Canelo Alvarez last November in Las Vegas.
First things first, former two-time WBC super middleweight champion Benavidez will be fighting #2 WBC David Lemieux (43-4, 36 KOs) on May 21st on Showtime in a World Boxing Council 168-lb title eliminator. The fight was made official today.
As such, the winner of the Benavidez vs. Lemieux contest will be the mandatory challenger to WBC super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.
With Plant, 29, suddenly willing to take the fight with the dangerous 25-year-old Benavidez, it suggests that he’s in a position where he feels he has nothing to lose and everything to gain.
If Plant doesn’t take this risky fight against Benavidez, his options for a big-money fight would be nonexistent for 2022. Plant had talked of wanting to face Jermall Charlo at the end of this year, but that fight is now off the talent due to the Texas native being in the pipeline for a match against Canelo Alvarez in 2023.
With Jermall waiting on a lucrative money bout against Canelo, he’s not going to risk losing out on that fight by taking a risky interim bout against Caleb Plant. There’s too much of a potential downside in taking on ‘Sweethands’ Plant, and there’s no way Jermall would be crazy enough to go in that direction.
Plant gave Canelo a lot of problems in their fight last November before succumbing to his power in the 11th round. It was far from an easy fight for Canelo, who looked far from the fighter that had dominated most of his opponents in the last four years.
Plant’s best career wins have come against these fighters:
Jose Uzcategui
Caleb Truax
Vincent Feigenbutz
Rogelio Medina
Mike Lee
View this post on Instagram