By Dan Ambrose: David Benavidez says he’s going to knockout Caleb ‘Sweethands’ Plant when he hopes to face him in May. It still remains to be seen whether Sweethands Plant will agree to fight Benavidez he failed to mention his name at the post-fight press conference last Saturday night after beating Anthony Dirrell.
If this had been Canelo Alvarez that was in the equation, you best believe that Plant would have been wearing out his name in taking to the media.
The fact that Plant didn’t once utter Benavidez’s name indicates that he has zero intention of fighting him next and possibly forever.
The interim WBC super middleweight champion Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) has his wish list for his next three fights against Jose Uzcategui, Plant (22-1, 13 KOs), and WBA ‘regular’ 168-lb champion David Morrell.
The former IBF super middleweight champion Uzcategui (32-4, 27 KOs) comes next in January. Benavidez states that Uzcategui was the best available contender he could get. Jermall Charlo wasn’t a fight that could happen, and Plant was busy with his comeback fight against Anthony Dirrell.
The negative about Uzcategui is that he recently tested positive for PEDs, and he’s already been beaten by Plant. Hardcore boxing fans aren’t going to be interested in Benavidez-Uzcategui, and the casuals likely have never heard of him.
“It builds our fight more, and hopefully, we get that fight in May,” said David Benavidez to Fighthype about wanting to fight Caleb Plant next May.
“I still feel that I’m going to go in and stop Caleb Plant and knock him out,” said Benavidez when asked if he’s more worried about Plant after watching him knockout Anthony Dirrell in the ninth round last Saturday night.
“I want to get a fight against the top guys at 168 because I know once I get put in a hard place, the best comes out of me.
“I think Jermall has the power to hurt him, but I favor Caleb a little bit more,” said Benavidez when asked who wins between Jermall Charlo and Plant. “I don’t think Charlo has the power at 168. He has the power at 160, but at 168, I don’t think it’ll carry over.
“After this fight, the big fights are going to come. I don’t think a fight with Charlo is going to happen. Definitely, Caleb Plant and David Morrell later in the future.
“Charlo, like you said, he went off the grid [not having communication with the outside world]. I don’t know what his plans are. He doesn’t really talk about anything. We don’t even know when his next fight is going to be. We’re going to forget about that fight.
“We got three good names. We got [Jose] Uzcategui, Plant, and David Morrell next year. Like I said, we’re going to forget about Charlo and worry about these three guys in front of us.
“I would love to get a fight against him,” said Benavidez about Jaime Munguia. “He doesn’t get the fights that he wants. He wants to fight the best of the best, but it’s hard for him to get those fights. If I could get a fight against him in the future, that would be a great fight to make.
“I don’t have any bad blood with him,” said Benavidez about Jose Uzcategui. “That’s a fight I want to get in. If I’m not going to be fighting the other elite fighters, I feel like he was the best one to get on my resume.
“He was an ex-world champion, and he fought Caleb Plant. So that right there is something I still have to prove. I want to go in and beat him worse than Caleb Plant did. So there’s that element too.
“I was looking for a fight in November against David Morrell. That didn’t happen. I could actually have fought Caleb Plant too, but he did his comeback fight. That was out of the question.
“Charlo, we couldn’t get Charlo. The only other name that I had a possibility of fighting is Jesse Hart, and that fell through too. So Uzcategui is the only one there.
“My plan is to knock Uzcategui out because he’s never been stopped, and after that, a fight potentially against Caleb Plant. I got to be patient. The good thing about me is I still have time on my side. I’m barely 25. There’s still a lot of time.
“My plan, even if he didn’t knock Dirrel out, was to make a statement. I don’t feel like it was pressure, but I definitely want to put a beating on Uzcategui. When I stopped Dirrell, I had just turned 23 years old, so it’s a big difference. Caleb Plant is 30 years old [and Dirrell is now 37], so there’s a big difference in experience.
“I feel like it was a good fight, he [Plant] did what he had to do, but with me, I feel like I’m the stronger fighter, the hungrier fighter. I’m excited. I feel like this fight has to happen soon, and when it happens, I’m going to be more than ready for it.
“We can’t overlook Uzcategui. He’s a strong puncher, he’s an ex-champion, but I’m going to go in there and take care of business, and I’m going to look great in doing it. Then after that, I’m going to call out Caleb Plant.
“The only thing he [Uzcategui] has to offer is a good right hand. He is strong. I know that personally because I sparred. But I feel other than that, I have the better jab, I have the better body shots, and I have the better speed. My chin is really good too.
“I’m training really hard for this fight because you can’t overlook a power puncher like that. So I got to be on my p’s and q’s. Like I said, if he takes me to a spot that is really comfortable for me, the best is going to come out of me.
“So I hope he makes it a really hard fight for me because I know myself what I could do and what I’m capable of doing. That’s why I’m really excited about this fight.
“It’s going to be a good fight. It’s not going to be easy. It’s probably going to take a lot for me to stop Uzcategui, but I know in my heart I’m going to stop Uzcategui,” said Benavidez.
