By Adam Baskin: Caleb Plant says David Benavidez is just an actor who talks a lot, but when it comes down to it, he loses his nerve and backs up his tough talk.
Plant (22-1, 13 KOs) knew Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) wasn’t going to do anything recently at their kick-off press conference for their March 25th fight on Showtime PPV at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
When Benavidez stood up and walked towards Caleb, challenging him to throw down right there, the former IBF super middleweight champion Plant says he kept his hands in his pockets because he knew he wouldn’t do anything.
Plant knows Benavidez’s mindset now after studying him and feels he’s something that will open his yap but is afraid actually to fight.
Benavidez will have to do something because he’ll be putting his interim WBC super middleweight title on the line against Plant on March 25th because there’s a lot on the line for this fight.
The winner will be able to challenge undisputed 168-lb champion Canelo Alvarez for his four titles if he doesn’t vacate them.
With all the talk that Benavidez and his dad, Jose Benavidez Sr, have done, they may have already burned their bridges for a chance to fight Canelo. Plant might be the only one that has a real chance of getting the Canelo fight if he comes out victorious against Benavidez.
Recently, Plant exposed Benavidez for following a script that he was reading while on stage for their kickoff press conference, which had every word and action written out as if he was following a cookbook.
Surprisingly, Benavidez didn’t memorize his script; instead, of having to read it. If Benavidez is going to act, he needs to remember his lines, say the words clearly, and not bump into anything as he walks off the stage.
Plant views Benavidez as an actor
“It sounds good for the cameras. It’s just like at the press conference. He kept saying stuff that sounded good for the cameras,” said Caleb Plant to Fighthype when asked about his thoughts on David Benavidez predicting a sixth round knockout.
“He kept standing up for the cames. So what did he do right after? He sat his big fat a** right back down. All these things he’s saying and doing, it sounds good for the cameras.
“I had my hands in my pockets, regardless of what he said and how he’s acting because I knew he wasn’t going to do s*** because when I popped Jose Jr in the face in the gym, and there were seven of them and three of us, and I came forward like this [with hands up, ready to fight], and everybody is backing up just staring at me, not doing anything.
“There wasn’t any security there; there wasn’t no camera there. What did David [Benavidez] do when I popped his brother in the face? He just stood there looking at me like a big fat p***y, and what did Jose Jr do? Nothing. He just stood there looking at me.
“Then the next day, the gym owner came over and apologized and said they were sorry for acting like a fool. So now we’re in front of all these people, all these cameras, security guards, and now I’m supposed to feel like you’re going to do something now? Come on, man.
“Again, all these antics, all these things he’s saying and rah-rah stuff, that sounds good for the cameras, but we don’t believe none of that. This is a big fight, and it’s going to put me in a position for an even bigger fight [against Canelo Alvarez] to be able to right a wrong.
“So obviously, with everything they’ve had to say about me, it reminds me of everything that Anthony Dirrell said. They ain’t no smarter than to call me a b**tch or a p***y. IQ is IQ; I’m carrying that everywhere with me.
Caleb expects to have his hand raised
“It don’t matter where I put my feet down, where I leave my feet. This is going to be on top of them. Again, I’m motivated, I’ve been working hard, and it’s going to feel. It’s going to feel good to get my hand raised on March 25th.
“Not necessarily. If he’s not on his p’s and q’s, there might not even be a second half of the fight,” said Plant when asked if the second half of the fight against Benavidez could be a problem with him if he gasses out.
“I’m sure Dirrell thought the same thing, and I snapped the soul out of his chest. It’s easy to make these predictions about what the fight is going to be like. ‘I’m going to do this; I’m going to do that.’ We’re showing up to get our hand raised regardless of how that is.
“If he feels like he wants to stop me in six, here I am. In the Jose Uzcategui fight, I’m not going to call this an excuse because I got my hand raised, and I won that fight hands down, and it wasn’t even close.
“There’s no reason for me to have an excuse, but what I will say is that night, I didn’t get any sleep. The night before that fight, I was literally staring at the back of my eyelids for eight hours straight,” said Plant about his fight with Jose Uzcategui in 2019.
“I also went to the ring at only 174 pounds against Uzcategui. So when you add those things in, you might be a little flat in the second half of the fight because those things are going to carry over. If you don’t get any rest, if you’re not able to put the weight back on, there could be some issues with that.
“I make no excuses, even getting a head-butt in the fourth round. I have plenty of reasons or excuses to succumb to. I’m the underdog. This guy was supposed to beat me. I didn’t sleep that night. I didn’t put the weight back on.
“I got my eye cut, but that’s not how a man handles business. You just got to keep trucking, keep pushing, and I handle my business. So if that’s what they feel is going to happen, again, here I am,” said Plant about Benavidez believing he’s going to knock him out within six rounds.