Most fans had two questions when it came to Plant and Benavidez.
Would Plant be able to handle Benavidez’s pressure for 12 rounds?
How would Benavidez react to someone who isn’t standing in front of him like a heavy bag?
Both questions were answered.
Plant, who boxed beautifully for the first few rounds, just ran out of gas once the fight’s second half got going. To Plant’s credit, he didn’t fold and continued to try to win even while taking tremendous punishment, but he didn’t bank enough early rounds.
Benavidez couldn’t just run through Plant, but he showed a lot of patience and eventually started breaking Plant down.
Plant showed a lot of heart, hanging in there and trying to win to the end. If he could have extended that beautiful boxing for a couple of more rounds, maybe he would have had his hand raised.
Benavidez showed that he could adapt, be patient, use his jab, showed good defense, and was more than just a brawler. Once he started not to accept the clinching and began to go to the body, it was just a matter of time.
You aren’t always going to get the knockout when you fight high-level opponents, but he did get a clear victory which he should be proud of.
It was good to see they settled their beef in the ring like men and shook hands.
It is now on to bigger and better things for Benavidez. He likely isn’t going to get Canelo next because Canelo is determined to fight Bivol again, even though no one wants to see it.
Benavidez has tremendous momentum, and he still needs to get better, so he needs to stay busy. The earliest he likely can get Canelo in the ring is May 24, which is 14 months from now. Benavidez should at least fight twice in that time frame, maybe three times. Continue to improve his profile and keep calling out Canelo. That will make the fight even bigger. Plus, the extra experience will help him against Canelo, who is better than Caleb Plant.
David Benavidez on facing Canelo pic.twitter.com/zPzmQluZBv
— Robert Littal BSO (@BSO) March 26, 2023
