Via Robert Segal: David Benavidez needs to do his best to get a teamfight against Caleb Plant to increase his chances of fighting Canelo Alvarez.
Without the main belt under 168 to entice Canelo to fight him, Benavidez (26-0, 23 will be left in the cold, fighting lesser-known fighters like Jose Uzcategui, David Lemieux and more. Ronald Ellis.
Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn felt that Benavidez needed to fight Plant to help his efforts in getting Canelo to share the ring with him.
Hearn doesn’t understand Benvidez’s move to face former IBF 168-lb champion Jose Uzcategui in January because that fight won’t do anything for him to get a fight with Canelo.
Uzcategui was defeated by Plant, which makes Benavidez an absurd choice.
If this is what his promoter is doing, he must consider continuing after his contract ends.
“I watched the knockout and I thought it was a great left hook, but obviously, the fight wasn’t particularly great at the time,” said Eddie Hearn. DAZN Boxing Show about Caleb Plant’s ninth knockout win over Anthony Dirrell on October 15.
“I don’t think we can really begin to see Dirrell as a top 168 elite guy. Listen, he’s a world-class guy, a former world champion, but he won his last match in a messy bout with a great knockout.
“Caleb Plant is a very good fighter. He gave Canelo a good fight. He lost the battle and was stopped, but he was still an excellent fighter. As for me, I can’t believe we didn’t get Spence-Crawford, but I can’t believe we can’t get Benavidez-Plant.
“Benavidez-Plant was a really good fight. Plant is stepping out of a large portal, though against Canelo Alvarez, the numbers are big. He’s a great fighter, he has a great backstory, and has a great story, and Benavidez is an excellent fighter.
“That’s the kind of fight that needs to be done, and it was a great fight for division. You know, if Benavidez wants to fight Canelo Alvarez, that’s the kind of fight he has to go into to make a statement that, in my opinion, makes people go, ‘Well, Canelo, you have to fight Benavidez.’
“To fight Jose Uzcategui is weird. Plant-Benavidez, same camp, same life, big fight. Hearn said.
