‘The Mexican Monster’ vs ‘Sweethands’
David ‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez (26-0, 23KO) and Caleb ‘Sweethands’ Plant (22-1, 13KO) come together to headline a SHOWTIME PPV event on Saturday, March 25 from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
26-year-old Benavidez is the WBC Interim super-middleweight champion and 30-year-old Plant is the WBC and WBA #1 contender. He’s also WBO #2 and IBF #3.
And the bad blood is real…
Here we have two former world champions, young fighters at the top of their game, the best in their divisions, and who really dislike each other!
What’s exciting is that either one of them could knock the other one out, and it’s definitely something personal when they step into that ring on fight night – 100 per cent!
That bad blood between them could overspill into the fight and, if it does, then someone may walk onto something they really don’t want to walk onto.
This is why it’s such an exciting fight but also an interesting, intriguing bout because it’s so even that it could just come down to who can take it on the night.
The opposing game plans will be a major factor in who wins; whoever can implement their tactics to the letter and do exactly what they do best will be the one who will take the lead on the scorecards.
Background
Trained by his father, Benavidez was the WBC World super-middleweight champion between 2017 to 2020, which is when he lost his title on the scales.
Plant was the IBF World super-middleweight champion between 2019 to 2021, but then Canelo took his belt via 11th-round TKO to compete the set and become undisputed.
Both boxers come into the contest off the back of knockout wins, but it’s just the one for Plant and six in a row for DB.
Styles
Caleb Plant is a clever, stylish fighter with sublime movement. He doesn’t get fazed under pressure and will keep firing shots when backed up or under duress.
He doesn’t respect his opponents, as in he will hold his feet and trade toe to toe, even if he’s in with a big puncher like Canelo. It was a launching left hook that connected in the penultimate round that wobbled his legs after taking most of the Mexican’s hardest punches for half an hour. Then Canelo followed up and stopped him.
When Plant throws the jab, he does so from different levels, which are the awkward angles that could work for him to land his shots but to also upset his opponent’s rhythm.
His style and IQ could work to offset Benavidez. His movement and counter punching are going to be his keys to victory. Caleb would do well to keep turning Benavidez and clinching, to negate him and not allow his rival to get too comfortable.
David Benavidez is a hard-hitting combination puncher, with an 88% KO ratio, and currently riding on a six-fight stoppage streak. But he is also a lot smarter in the ring than people think. He is busy with his relentless attacks, and the pressure he applies is educated, rarely ever spoiling his work, keeping the distance at mid-range where he can work best.
When DB won his world title against Ronald Gavril, he was well ahead on the scorecards then suffered a 12th-round flash knockdown. It was more exhaustion that led to that rather than him crumbling under a hard shot. That gave a glimpse of how he handles being in the trenches and he passed the test.
Scenarios
Benavidez will undoubtedly pressure Caleb and force him to fight, but will have to watch out because he sets traps. It’s better to pressure Plant from a distance, which Benavidez can do with his slight height and reach advantages. Caleb is such a great counter puncher, so opponents have to stay two steps ahead of him at all times.
When Benavidez has opponents backing up, he follows them closely to rain punches in from everywhere making it extremely difficult to escape. This is where Caleb will do well to hold.
He is often quick to catch counters on his gloves, but as a stand-up tall fighter, he can eat a few too. This where Plant needs to be sharp and reactive, to score through these openings.
Benavidez has talked about getting the knockout a lot, even putting a number on it – by round six, but if he becomes a bit too overeager to score the stoppage, then it could play into Plant’s hands.
We saw during Plant’s fight with Dirrell how badly their emotions spilled over into the fight, with the pair tangling up constantly, wrestling each other to the floor, but that fight ended with the more composed Plant knocking Dirrell out cold. The left hook to the body followed by the left hook up top was a sensational combination to end the fight abruptly.
Interestingly, they both stopped shared opponent Dirrell in same round – nine.
Betting Odds
Benavidez is the favourite to win at 3/10 with Betway, while Plant is placed 5/2. The odds for a draw are expectedly low at 14/1.
Prediction
This fight comes down who will be able to implement their game plan perfectly on fight night.
Could Plant counter and move on the back foot and set traps for Benavidez to walk onto? Or will Benavidez stand at mid-range and power in those big straight right hands and fast combinations of hooks to head and body to break Caleb down over time?
Benavidez really can’t stand Caleb, desperate to inflict pain upon his bitter rival, which is a worry that he could get a carried away with all that built-up anger and aggression. If anyone is going to walk onto one, then I’d have pick Benavidez. He is the more likely of the two to let emotions spill over.
My advice to Caleb would be to stick to his boxing, superior movement and use his angles. Don’t go looking for the knockout, just let it come naturally, and if there’s a sign of vulnerability, then turn up the heat.
As a boxer who is smart and a smooth, fluid mover, I would also suggest not going with the same look in every round. Any sign of predictability will be a red flag to the guy they actually call the “Red Flag”. When Benavidez starts throwing his combinations, you have to punch back, accurately, to break his rhythm. You can’t allow him to get into a groove because then it’s going to be a long, hard night.
There’s an old saying, ‘You can’t punch and block punches at the same time.’ If Benavidez is throwing punches, which he does so often and in numbers, then throw one right down the pipe, with venom, to try to break his rhythm and upset his tempo. Those accurate counters could catch the judges’ eyes at ringside and rack the rounds up in his corner.
The best bet for Benavidez would be to pressure constantly, as is his custom, and to know how to cut the ring off intelligently without getting tangled up. Try to make Caleb move the way that he wants to move him, so being one step ahead of him for a change, which he won’t like, and then it’s about timing. David is fast, he’s big, he can jab, but he has to cut off the ring to slow Caleb down and move him into the position where he wants him to be, which is when and where he can attack with punches in bunches.
It’s such a great fight, by far the best matchup of the year yet, but I am going to go with my gut feeling that the stronger, more aggressive David Benavidez wins by late KO between rounds 9-12.
