Two former world champions are set to go head-to-head in the highly-contested super-middleweight division, as David Benavidez squares off with Caleb Plant on March 25.
Benavidez became the youngest ever 168lb world champion when he defeated Ronald Gavril by split decision for the vacant title in 2017. After making just one defence of the WBC belt, outpointing Gavril in the rematch, Benavidez was stripped of the world title for recreational drug use.
In 2019, he knocked out Anthony Dirrell to win back his world title, before missing weight and losing the belt on the scales in his next fight. The Mexican still campaigns in the super-middleweight division and will go into the fight with an undefeated record (26-0, 23 KOs) and a run of six consecutive stoppage victories.
Meanwhile, former IBF champion, Caleb Plant has been a long-time rival of Benavidez, with online back-and-forths appearing on a regular basis over the last couple of years.
Plant lost his undefeated record in 2021, losing to pound-for-pound superstar, Canelo Alvarez in the eleventh round of their fight. ‘Sweet Hands’ has always been known for his boxing skills rather than his power and will be expected to try and outbox Benavidez in this fight.
However, back in October, Plant proved that he has got one-punch-knockout power, brutally stopping Dirrell with one of the knockouts of the year.
After confirming the event, promoter, Stephen Espinoza, proudly spoke of the magnitude of the fight and claimed that not only is it a 50-50 matchup, but a fight-of-the-year candidate, Boxing Scene reports.
“This is one of the biggest and potentially most explosive fights that can be made in boxing, not just in the super middleweight division,”
“It pits two fighters at the peak of their athletic primes, both with prodigious skill-sets and contrasting styles, both of whom take great pride in the way they perform.
It is an intriguing matchup and the outcome is impossible to predict. Add in their genuine and mutual dislike for one another and we have a volatile, 50-50 matchup and potential fight-of-the-year candidate.
SHOWTIME is proud to deliver this event and mark yet another compelling and significant main event as we raise the curtain on our 2023 schedule.”
Benavidez-Plant will take place on Saturday March 25 at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas and will be available to watch on Showtime PPV for US fans, with a U.K. broadcaster yet to be announced.