LAS VEGAS – Caleb Plant didn’t wait this time for his opponent to put his hands on Plant as they went face to face on stage Friday afternoon.
Plant poked David Benavidez in his cheek with his left index finger after they made weight. The bitter rivals were quickly separated by promoter Tom Brown and security personnel positioned around them at KA Theatre inside MGM Grand.
That was the extent of their minor altercation, as order was quickly restored the day before their 12-round fight for Benavidez’s WBC interim super middleweight title Saturday night at nearby MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Moments earlier, Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs), a Phoenix native who resides in suburban Seattle, stepped on the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s scale at 166¾ pounds. Plant (22-1, 13 KOs), a former IBF super middleweight champ from Ashland City, Tennessee, officially weighed slightly more, 167¼ pounds.
Benavidez, 26, and Plant, 30, will headline a four-fight Showtime Pay-Per-View telecast ($74.99). Most sportsbooks list Benavidez as a 3-1 favorite over Plant, who has lost only to undisputed super middleweight champ Canelo Alvarez by 11th-round technical knockout in November 2021 at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
The official weights for the eight undercard bouts are listed below.
Showtime Pay-Per-View
9 p.m. ET; 6 p.m. PT
Jesus Ramos (19-0, 15 KOs), Casa Grande, Arizona, 153¼ pounds vs. Joey Spencer (16-0, 10 KOs), Fenton, Michigan, 153¼ pounds, 10 rounds, junior middleweights.
Chris Colbert (16-1, 6 KOs), Brooklyn, 134½ pounds vs. Jose Valenzuela (12-1, 8 KOs), Renton, Washington, 134 pounds, 10 rounds, lightweights.
Cody Crowley (21-0, 9 KOs), Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, 145¼ pounds vs. Abel Ramos (27-5-2, 21 KOs), Casa Grande, Arizona, 146 pounds, 12 rounds, WBC elimination match.
Showtime Sports YouTube channel
7 p.m. ET; 4 p.m.
Kevin Gonzalez (25-0-1, 13 KOs) Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, 121½ pounds vs. Jose Sanmartin (34-6-1, 21 KOs), Barranquilla, Colombia, 122½ pounds, 10 rounds, junior featherweights.
Orestes Velazquez (6-0, 6 KOs), Miami, 142 pounds vs. Marcelino Lopez (37-2-1, 22 KOs), Buenos Aires, Argentina, 141¾ pounds, 10 rounds, junior welterweights.
Non-televised
Robert Meriwether III (3-0, 2 KOs), Las Vegas, 132 pounds vs. Jesus Perez (14-15-1, 8 KOs), Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, 131 pounds, 4 rounds, lightweights.
Daniel Blancas (5-0, 3 KOs), Milwaukee, 167 pounds vs. Nicholas Molina (4-1-1, 4 KOs), Laredo, Texas, 167½ pounds, 6 rounds, super middleweights.
Demler Zamora (10-0, 8 KOs), Las Vegas, 129½ pounds vs. Jesus Ibarra (15-0, 7 KOs), Apache Junction, Arizona, 130 pounds, 8 rounds, junior lightweights.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.