LOS ANGELES — David Benavidez is deep in the trenches preparing for his super middleweight matchup against Caleb Plant on March 25 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Showtime pay-per-view.
Should Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) successfully get past the tall task that is Plant (22-1, 13 KOs), the 26-year-old will be able to consider a menu of palatable options while plotting his next move.
“I feel that I have like four fights left at super middleweight. The only reason I stayed around for so long is that I wanted to make this fight happen [with Plant], for sure. And since I’m already here, we should make these other fights happen,” Benavidez said in an interview with BoxingScene.com and other reporters.
“We have Canelo Alvarez, David Morrell, Jermall Charlo, and Demetrius Andrade. And then after that, I’m moving up to 175 pounds. If I can’t get any of those fights made, then I’m moving up to 175 pounds.”
The two-time super middleweight champion Benavidez has been dismantling middling competition in recent years.
His last five wins dating back to Sept. 2019 have included the likes of David Lemieux, Kyrone Davis, Ronald Ellis, Roamer Alexis Angulo, and Anthony Dirrel – all via stoppages.
Benavidez has patiently waited for the level of competition to get better, and he’ll get exactly that – and then some – against Plant.
“I’ve been trying to predict it for the last three years and nothing happens like you think it’s going to happen. I don’t know where the boat is going to go after this,” said Benavidez.
Benavidez and Plant will be fighting to become the No. 1 mandatory challenger for undisputed 168-pound champion Canelo Alvarez’s WBC title.
Benavidez has been pleading for a shot against Alvarez in recent years, but the pound-for-pound star has opted for a different set of challenges.
Benavidez’s father and trainer Jose has maintained in recent months that the Alvarez fight will never happen, and that the Mexican star can no longer face top-level opposition.
“I don’t know [if the Alvarez fight will happen]. Hopefully. I mean, that’s the fight that everyone wants to see. So hopefully they respect the mandatories and we can make it after this,” said David Benavidez. “I’ve done everything possible. I feel that it has to come from him. If he’s pressured, but I feel that if he doesn’t care he doesn’t care.”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.