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By Adam Baskin: David Benavidez called out undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez for “September” after taking care of  Caleb Plant with a dominating 12-round unanimous decision against the stamina-weak former IBF strap holder on Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Benavidez told Canelo that he would have to fight him in September, which isn’t going to happen. Canelo is fighting a rematch with Dmitry Bivol in September, provided he beats John Ryder on May 6th in his tune-up fight in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Realistically, the earliest Benavidez can count on getting a shot at undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo is next year in May 2024 because he’s not going to fight him in September or December because he’s fighting Bivol.

If Canelo loses that fight, which most boxing fans believe he will, he’ll rest up, licking his battle wounds, and decide whether to fight someone good like Benavidez or take another confidence booster.

Getting thrashed a second time by Bivol will make Canelo reevaluate his career, and he could retire depending on how badly he’s dominated.

It would be courageous on Canelo’s part to fight Benavidez after a one-sided loss to Bivol in September, but he won’t want to do that. It’s not just Canelo making his career moves. It’s his trainer/manager Eddy Reynoso.

The eagle-eyed Reynoso WON’T want to feed Canelo to an apex predator like Benavidez after a second defeat against Bivol. It’s not going to happen.

Reynoso will be looking out for Canelo because he clearly knows the end result if he throws him in the ring with Benavidez off the back of a second beating against Bivol.

Benavidez battered Plant in a fight that got out of hand in the second half of the contest when the Tennesse native was holding nonstop and taking point-blank headshots in the clinch.  The scores were 117-111, 116-112, and 115-113.

The judge that scored it 115-113 gave Plant the first five rounds, which was a bit overboard. He was running from Benavidez in the first quarter of the fight, landing weak punches and jumping in to tie him up when he would get close enough to land.

Referee Kenny Bayless allowed Plant to get away with a massive amount of holding the entire fight, particularly in thee first five rounds when he was tying Benavidez up repeatedly to shut down his offense.

“I have a lot of respect for Canelo Alvarez, but he has to give me that shot now,” said David Benavidez after his win over Caleb Plant. “That’s what everybody wants to see, me vs. Canelo; let’s make it happen in September.”

Benavidez has been chasing Canelo for years with no luck, and he’s probably not feeling confident about fighting him after watching what he did to Plant. ‘The Mexican Monster’ beat Plant like a drum to where his face was unrecognizable from what it looked like before thee bout.

“I thought the fight was close. Caleb Plant did what he was supposed to do,” said Jermall Charlo to Fighthype after Benavidez’s win over Plant. “David Benavidez shut him out.”

“I felt David Benavidez applied more pressure. It was real close. David did good. He basically stuck to the game plan and did what he was supposed to do. A jab changed fight,” Charlo said when asked what he’d do if he’d been in there with Plant.

“Caleb had the time to adjust, but he never adjusted. He never got back to his jab. I felt David Benavidez landed more body shots than Plant. I’ll let you know in a few hours. Tune in, to ‘The Future of boxing'” said Jermall when asked if we could see a fight between him and Benavidez later this year.

“168 for sure,” said Charlo about him planning to move up to 168 this year.