Via Dan Ambrose: David Benavidez said he wants to take on former IBF super middleweight champion Caleb ‘Sweethands’ Plant after he faced David Lemieux in the spring for the interim 168-lb WBC title.
Ideally, Benavidez (25-0, 22 KOs) would like to challenge Canelo Alvarez for his WBC super middleweight title, but if he can’t get it after beating Lemieux (43-4, 36 KOs), then he wants Plant.
There’s a bloodbath between two-time WBC 168-lb champion Benavidez, 25, and Plant from the trash talk they’ve been doing lately.
Unfortunately, Plant is in no hurry to return to the ring after a recent 11-round knockout loss to Canelo on November 6 in Las Vegas. Plant recently called out Jermall Charlo, telling him he wanted to fight him by the end of 2022.
Some believe that the main reason 29-year-old Plant isn’t in a hurry to get back in the ring is because of the huge $10 million salary he received during his unification fight with Canelo.
With money like that, Plant doesn’t need to get back into action anytime soon, especially against a dangerous former world champion in Benavidez.
Benavidez says Plant “all have no bite marks”
“I knew I would get the Caleb Plant eventually. I will f**** Caleb Planting right there,” David Benavidez told Fighthype when recalling how Plant “punched” his brother Jose Benavidez Jr. himself in an argument.
“We’re all going to f**** Caleb Plant up,” continued Benavidez. “Like his coach was defeated, you all watched the video.
“But after his beating, Caleb Plant became my brother. ‘Oh yes, I respect you’ and this, that. The next day, that’s what happened.
“And the next day, he was on Instagram saying all kinds of nonsense. That’s what Caleb Plant is, man. He talks all the time, no bites. That’s why he was knocked down and looked like a match against Canelo Alvarez,” Benavidez said.
Plant tagged Benavidez’s brother Jose Benavidez Jr with a hot punch at the gym a while ago. The fact that David wants to fight Plant may have something to do with him tagging his brother.
Plant’s 9th round conversation with Canelo
Benavidez was suspended by Plant’s conversation with Canelo during the ninth inning of their fight last November. He sees this as a case of Plant not only seeking validation and reassurance from Canelo but letting him give him up easily.
Canelo didn’t take Plant out easily after their conversation, as two rounds later, he knocked him down in the eleventh round. After the fight, Plant tells Canelo that he doesn’t want the fight to be stopped.
However, he was knocked down twice by the Mexican star, leaving the referee with no choice but to suspend the competition because Plant could not stand.
“I knew he was going to be taken down. The problem with Caleb Plant is that he doesn’t have the strength,” said Benavidez in Plant’s 11th round knockout loss to Canelo last November.
“He has good little pop hits, but that can only get you so far. I mean, Canelo is dominating him every round.
“It was only a matter of time before he got knocked out, and he did. Let me tell you what I think of that,” Benavidez said when asked about his reaction to Plant, telling Canelo in the ninth round, “Do you think I’m pretty?”
“I feel like him [Plant] said that and after that round and I watched the video, and I was like, ‘This guy might think they’re friends in the ring, and he’s not going to take him down,'” Benavidez said of Plant’s conversation with Canelo in the ninth round last November.
“Sometimes, I feel like it’s the usual ***. Who chatted and said, ‘You know what? You think I’m pretty good, don’t you? I’m fine with 21-0, aren’t I? ‘ I already felt like him [Plant] mentally defeated.
“He probably thought they were cool and that he wasn’t going to try to take me down. Then, in the 11th round, Canelo came out and hit one of his **.
“I mean, I just thought it was funny. It’s a bit silly, but that’s my opinion on that. He [Plant] maybe I was surprised [that he had lasted that long in the fight].
“That’s what I’m saying. Ask another boxer if you think you’re good at a world title fight like that, that’s silly to me,” Benavidez said.
Many boxing fans see Plant as a sign of weakness when he chose to speak to Canelo in the ninth round in a crucial unification fight.
Benavidez wants Plant after Lemieux
“Did he have an eye injury? I don’t know,” Benavidez said when asked how he saw Plant come back from his loss to Canelo.
“I don’t know about the eye injury, but I’m sure he’ll be back. He had to bring his c** back so I could hit his c**. I want that fight,” Benavidez said of how he still wants to face Plant despite the knock-out loss to Canelo.
“Like I said, people don’t want to go against me for a reason. I’ve been here a long, long time. I’m still top three, top two. I’m fighting for another temporary belt. So I feel like that also puts me in a better position.
“I feel like if for some reason I don’t get to fight Canelo after this fight, I’ll have a temporary belt, and I’d love to fight. Well, first I need to win the provisional belt, and then I enjoyed fighting Caleb Plant after pardoningIf we can’t get Canelo,” Benavidez said.
It was a waste of time for Benavidez to count on Canelo to give him a fight after he faced Lemieux in the spring. Canelo will not be fighting Benavidez, and he will likely strip the WBC belt once the World Boxing Council orders him to be defended against him.
If not, Canelo can ask WBC to make him a Franchise champion so he never has to fight Benavidez.
