By Sean Jones: Jose Benavidez Sr is convinced Caleb Plant will bail out of his fight with David Benavidez on March 25th, using some kind of excuse like he twisted his ankle or something.
Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) appeared to put the scare in the former IBF super middleweight champion Plant (22-1, 13 KOs) in their kick-off press conference last week, talking about wanting to put a serious hurt on him.
It’s hard to believe Plant would pull out of the fight, but on the other hand, looking at the way he was behaving during the press conference, you can’t rule it out. He might be having second thoughts after sizing Benavidez up. It’s surprising that Plant took the fight in the first place because Benavidez is all wrong for him.
Plant looked both worried and glassy-eyed from the way Benavidez was coming down hard on him with him talking about the violence he planned on inflicting upon him on March 25th in their fight on Showtime PPV at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
It would look bad if Plant, 30, pulled out because it would reinforce the view that many boxing fans have that he’s afraid of the former two-time WBC super middleweight champion Benavidez.
Plant needs a win over Benavidez for him to lock himself in for a well-paying rematch with Canelo Alvarez, the undisputed super middleweight championships. It’s almost a certainty that Canelo would agree to fight Plant if he were to beat Benavidez because he’s already proven that he can beat him.
Benavidez wants to shut Plant’s trap
“What makes you think Canelo is going to take that fight? There’s no way he’s going to take that fight,” said Jose Benavidez Sr to Fight Hub TV when asked if it’s possible that public pressure will force Canelo Alvarez to fight David Benavidez.
“He can make more money fighting [John] Ryder, and maybe [Edgar] Berlanga is in the picture now. Come on, why would he risk fighting the ‘Mexican Monster’ [Benavidez] for what? He can make the same money fighting all these other fighters. He’s not going to do it. I guarantee you.
“If I had him, I would suggest, ‘Don’t fight the Mexican Monster. He’s going to f**k you up.’ Right now, the plan is Caleb Plant. F**k up Caleb Plant, send him to the hospital, and break his jaw, so he doesn’t talk no more s**t.
“That’s the plan right now. We have a deal for three fights at 168. If something happens, we would love to fight Bivol, Zurdo Ramirez, and Beterbiev. Those are the best fighters up there, you know? Why not? These mother f***kers will fight anybody.
“They’re not choosing & picking who they want to fight. They want to fight. So I guarantee you that we’ll take the fight in a heartbeat,” said Jose Sr.
Jose Sr worried Plant will pull out
“We have David Morrell, Charlo, and a big possibility with Boo Boo [Andrade],” said Benavidez Sr. “Even if something happens here, I hope Caleb Plant shows up to the fight. If not, we’re going to have to. They probably already notified him. This guy is trying to find a way out.
“That’s what I’m thinking. He asked for all these things. If we had said no to one thing, he wouldn’t have taken that fight,” Jose Sr said about Plant. “Do you think I have to agree to everything he said? But I said, ‘Yes, let’s get him inside the ring.’
“So that’s what happened. I don’t know if he’s going to come up with something or if he twists his ankle. I don’t know. I just want to see him make it to the fight,” said Benavidez Sr.
