By Chris Williams: Jermell Charlo is picking Caleb Plant to defeat a “one-dimensional” David Benavidez on March 25th in their fight for interim WBC super middleweight title on Showtime pay-per-view at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell knows boxing skills when he sees them, and he sees former IBF 168-lb champion ‘Sweethands’ Plant (22-1, 13 KOs) as having too much technical ability than the run-of-the-mill Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs), who is just more of your average slugger destined for short shelf life.
Charlo predicts that the former two-time WBC champion Benavidez will apply much “pressure” on Plant because that’s how he fights, but that will not be good enough to get the job done.
Too much training by Benavidez
The former champion Benavidez has gone overboard with his training, sparring 12 rounds a day for months. Benavidez’s worry is high, causing him to be extreme with his training for the fight. He’s like a nervous Nellie because he doesn’t know how to stop training.
He’s a textbook example of a fighter who believes that ‘more is better,’ and he’s worn himself to the nubs, working out too much and likely losing strength.
To look at Benavidez now, he looks thin, drawn, worn out, and already at the 168-lb weight for the fight, which is crazy because there are still 11 days to go before his March 25th.
“Y’all already know. I’m rocking with Plant. Plant got the boxing skills. Benavidez is just one-dimensional. He’s going to come forward, and he’s going to put a lot of pressure, but styles make fights. It’s going to be a good one. Y’all know I’m rocking with Plant,” said Jermell Charlo to Showtime Boxing, picking Caleb Plant to defeat David Benavidez on March 25th.
No hesitation from @TwinCharlo on his pick for #BenavidezPlant on 3.25 👀
Order the fight now ➡️ https://t.co/hm8UTDaKgQ pic.twitter.com/97l1djSL4D
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) March 13, 2023
You can argue that it’s better for the sport if Plant wins this fight because there’s a huge demand for a rematch between him and Canelo Alvarez after their clash two years ago in 2021.
Benavidez lacks the personality and charisma to make a fight between him and Canelo an enticing one. He repeats himself a lot in interviews, and his dad, Jose Benavidez, would likely be the one to carry his side of the promotion to build interest in the fight with Canelo.
If Benavidez’s dad is going to do all the talking for him, it won’t be interesting because he’s always too negative.
