David Benavidez and Caleb Plant are set to face off in a tasty super-middleweight clash – and the champion, Saul ‘Canelo’ Álvarez, has picked his winner.
Plant challenged for Canelo’s titles back in 2021, putting his IBF title on the line in the bout that would crown an undisputed champ. It was a good performance until he was stopped in the penultimate round, and Canelo took the four belts back to Mexico.
With a knockout of the year contender over Anthony Dirrell since that sole career defeat, ‘Sweethands’ is looking for another shot at glory.
Benavidez, undefeated in 26 fights, is the current Interim champion for the WBC, but he has held the full version of the belt twice before. He was stripped of it in 2018 following a positive drugs test for cocaine, and served a four month ban from the sport.
He went on to win the belt back against Dirrell – Plant’s most recent opponent – in 2019 before being stripped again for failing to make the 168lb limit on the scales ahead of his bout with Roamer Alexis Angulo.
‘The Mexican Monster’ has long been angling for a shot at Canelo, and the latter made headlines last year for saying that he would prefer to skip that fight given that both represent the same country. He later reversed on these comments, saying that he would ‘fight anybody.’
A win over Plant would certainly help Benavidez’s case for the undisputed fight with Canelo, and the champion is predicting that to happen. He told ES News there were two factors at play.
“I think Benavidez, because he’s more strong, younger.”
The pair will meet in the ring on March 25 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, with the winner expected to call out Canelo in the aftermath. Whether it will be a rematch for plant or a first crack for Benavidez remains to be seen.