David Benavidez Wants Caleb Plant Next
When it comes to boxing, there are few current rivalries that are as well-known and documented as it is with WBC world super middleweight champion David “Red Flag” Benavidez (22-0, 19 KO’s) and IBF world super middleweight champion Caleb “Sweethands” Plant (20-0, 12 KO’s). The two men have trade words, insults and even punches over the past couple of years. Now, given his preference, Benavidez would love to lock horns with Plant in his next outing.
BAD BLOOD BROTHERS
There clearly is no loss of love between Benavidez and Plant. Yet, underneath all the squabbling is the earnest desire to prove themselves to be best in the division.
“Yeah, I definitely don’t like him, that’s not a secret; he said a lot of stuff about me, I said a lot of stuff about him. But I think the main part about it is like how you said, we’re both alpha males, we’re both champions in the division. I don’t like when somebody says they’re going to beat me. I’m pretty sure he feels the same way.”
“But I feel this is the fight that the boxing world needs right now. People that don’t like each other, they literally hate each, it’s a great fight! So this is what the super middleweight division needs, it’s what the people need. It’s going to be an amazing fight once we get it done. And that fight is not going to the decision, I promise you that.”
DON’T MATTER WHERE WE DO IT
Given the intensity of their feud, the length of the rivalry and the fact that their showdown would be a unification bout, many wouldn’t be surprised if the match was made a pay-per-view event. While he certainly would not buck at the notion that their fight be elevated to that status, it is not something that Red Flag is holding his breath about.
“I’ll let that down to the promoters and PBC. If they want to make it a pay-per-view fight, great! If they don’t, great too! I’m just excited to get in there and fight. I feel like I am just ready for this fight, if its pay-per-view, if it’s SHOWTIME, if it’s FOX, whatever it is I am just ready to make it happen.”
KNOCKOUT OR BUST
It’s clear that Benavidez has no pressing desire to be on any particular format the fight assumes. However, he is firm about wanting to end the feud by collecting a knockout against Plant.
“What makes everything is he talks too much. You know, he doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut. He always has an opinion about everything but that’s kind of what it is…the thing that you guys need to know is when I get him in the ring, my main mindset in that fight is ‘knockout, knockout!’”
“I’m not even going to feel satisfied if I get him in the fight and I don’t knock him out. So once I get ready for that training camp, whenever that fight happens, you know its going to be the hardest that I ever trained because that’s going to be the one time I’m actually going to want to hurt a man as much as I want hurt him because that’s just how I feel.”
By: Bakari Simpson
