Via Knitting Ambrosio: Coach Jose Benavidez Sr. says that Caleb ‘Sweethands’ Plant has woken up “animalWBC interim super middleweight champion David Benavidez with name calling and trash talk during their fight preparations next Saturday, March 25 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas .
(Image credit: Lalo Hernandez/ LIGHT HOURS)
Jose Sr. announced that Plant (22-1, 13 KOs) would be severely punished in the process of being knocked out by ‘Mexican Monster’ Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) undefeated in their first match on Showtimes PPV.
Plant showed some rare power in his final fight, stopping Anthony Dirrell in the ninth round last October. Jose Sr. says that he’s not worried about that display of power from Plant as he expects him to run until dawn when he starts being attacked by Benavidez, and that he won’t stop running throughout the battle.
Why does Benavidez want to destroy Plant
Jose Benavidez Sr said: “We are having an uphill battle against him on March 25, but as a man I have no respect for him. fight about the Caleb Factory.
“It’s to the point where you wake up the beast in David after all these years of being bullied by this guy [Plant], saying that he is fat. Even on his Instagram, he posted a photo of David, saying that David is fat. He always said that about David. ‘Fat boy.’
“He was just a bully, and after a while, David got tired of it. He woke up. People don’t like that. You feel tired after being bullied for a while. No, because this fight gave him a lot of motivation,” Jose Sr said when asked if Benavidez might have been too excited for the Plant fight.
“He is doing things that I have never seen him do before. It feeds him to stay motivated. He will handle himself well, and he won’t go in there with anger. Sometimes you need anger to make a fight, but as long as you keep it under control. I’m not worried about it. He knows what he’s doing,” Jose Sr said of his belief that Benavidez wouldn’t go mad inside the ring, fighting like a wild man and getting his throat cut by Plant.
“He knows he won’t be in the knockout stages right away. We will try to break him and hurt him and take him away. That’s the plan. Knockouts come. I’m pretty sure that if the knockout doesn’t happen, he’ll set him up to knock him out when he wants to.
“I wouldn’t underestimate Caleb Plant. He is a good fighter, a skillful fighter and an agile fighter. He has fast movement speed and good footwork. He moves very well, but there’s nothing he has that we haven’t seen.
“He left his old coach. I think if his old coach were with him, he would do much better. He’s the one that got him to a world title. He took him to the top. Now, he has brought his father in. His father was there in the corner just watching and advising him.
“His dad is the coach now, and he brought other coaches with him. Sometimes it takes time to adapt to new ideas, and he started. He’s 30 years old. When you’re 30, you’re not like when you’re 26 or 27. You don’t learn that fast.
“So that’s a big advantage for our side. He has great coaches and people with great ideas, but implementing those ideas takes some time. He lost with this coach, and now they want to fight together, and he looked spectacular in that knockout. [of Anthony Dirrell last October].
“Actually, he didn’t look good in that fight. That knockout came from nowhere. For me, that’s good. I’ve been with David since he was born so I know him very well. So I think that’s a big advantage,” Jose Sr.
Benavidez to the next level
“Caleb Plant says I never book glove and I know nothing about boxing,” said Benavidez Sr. “I will tell you right now that I know nothing about boxing. I’m learning, but look who I’ve worked with. Two world champions.
“I have three world champions. Now, I have the opportunity to work with David Benavidez, Rayo Valenzuela and Diego Pacheco. Diego Pacheco looked spectacular last week, so I have to do something good.
“A lot of people don’t appreciate him,” Jose Sr said of Benavidez. “He is not a two-time world champion. He is a three-time world champion. He is an interim world champion with WBC. So that’s a lot.
“If Canelo leaves the field often [WBC super middleweight] world title, then he became the champion. We’re super happy and super active, and we’re going to show the world a new David.
“A lot of people say that he is right footed, and his defense is not good. You will see a lot of head movement, defense, round cutting and going to the body.
“David is only 26 years old. We brought Memo Heredia. I would say this is the best camp because of the momentum and the level of opposition, and he is extremely motivated about his first PPV event.
“He went to another level. If you’ve watched David one fight before, two fights before that, then you see David on another level, and he’s only 26 years old. This is the moment, this is the fight that has motivated him even more, and I can see big progress on another level.
“I can say this is his best camp, but his next battle will be tougher. So we have to adjust and fight harder. I would say every boxer has to be at their best. They are not confident. We are confident,” Jose Sr.
Plant will run after being hit
“Caleb, at press conferences, he always has his hands in his pockets,” said Benavidez Sr. “These guys, you don’t hear from the trainers. Breadman is giving him [Plant] confident that he can hit hard. Hopefully they can do that, try to stay there and try to deal with David. We’ll see what happens.
“I don’t think that will happen. As soon as he feels David’s punches, he will run, move and stick. Our work is no secret. Hurt him, go to the body and slow him down, connect with our punches and eliminate him.
“His job is to move, run, run and move to try to do something. We will see who is the best boxer. The brawler or the boxer. It was a good fight for us to show everyone that we are ready at this level. I think David Benavidez ‘Mexican Monster’ is the best boxer at 168th place.
“Caleb Plant is a dangerous fighter, and we just had to perform and do what we said we would. It was the most important fight for his career and the most important fight for ours. We have to go get it. We have to look impressive.
“We cannot just win the war. We have to beat him. I don’t think that match will happen because he doesn’t want to fight the ‘Monster of Mexico,'” Jose Sr. spoke about his belief that Canelo Alvarez will not fight Benavidez.
“If I were Eddy Reynoso, I would probably do the same. Don’t face this guy. You will be injured. We have to look spectacular. We couldn’t ignore Caleb Plant, and the only way we could get Canelo was the way we did with Caleb Plant. He was pressured. He didn’t want to fight David, but he had to.
“There is a point where you can’t hide, you can’t run. I think the same thing will happen with Canelo. Once we look impressive, then we have the right to fight Canelo, and the fight and the people will demand the fight. That’s what we have to do. We have to look impressive. We cannot just win the war.
“How humiliating would that be for the Mexican people?” Jose Sr talks about Canelo looking bad if he doesn’t fight Benavidez. “If you are the champion and you are your best, you have to fight someone who looks impressive, if not, you have to retire. Guess? He’s going to have to get rid of all those belts,” Jose Sr.
