David Benavidez maintains begrudging respect for Caleb Plant
For quite some time, super middleweight boxers David “Red Flag” Benavidez (24-0, 21 KO’s) and Caleb “Sweethands” Plant (21-1, 12 KO’s) have had an open discord with one another. Each has expressed an interest in facing the other, yet nothing to date has materialized. Benavidez was twice the WBC 168-pound champion, only to lose his belt for actions committed outside of the ring. In both instances, Plant was only too happy to continuously harp on Red Flag’s perceived lack of discipline.
Feeling that the Nashville native was being a bit overly cheeky, Benavidez’s disdain for him only grew. Therefore, when Sweethands recently lost the biggest fight of his professional career, it would have been easy to envision Benavidez kicking him while down. This was far from the case. In no way did he bury the hatchet, but Red Flag did express his genuine respect to Plant as a fighter…if not a lippy one!
“I don’t have a deeper respect for him, I have a respect for every boxer. Like I said, that’s exactly what I thought was going to happen. I think he shouldn’t have run his mouth so much, made such a big deal but I guess you got to do what you got to do to sell the fight. But it was a good fight. As a standpoint from a boxing fan, I thought it was a really good fight and I enjoyed it.”
ONE MORE HURDLE!
While he is expected to get through it without major calamity, Benavidez’s next dustup has monumental importance. On November 13, Red Flag will take on the challenge of late replacement Kyrone “Shut It Down” Davis (16-2-1, 6 KO’s) on Showtime Boxing. In this fight however, not only does he need to win, it would behoove Benavidez to win in style. This is due to his being the leading candidate to battle undisputed super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KO’s).
Should Red Flag have a subpar night in the office, or even worse, lose, his shot at Canelo could instantly go up in smoke. Luckily, the down to Earth boxer is well aware of this and plans to put on a grand show. Provided he does get the win on November 13, and secures the Alvarez bout after, then he will have his opportunity to try to show Plant how it’s really done!
By: Bakari Simpson
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