LAS VEGAS – Jermall Charlo wants a piece of Caleb Plant, but only inside a boxing ring. (photo by Ryan Hafey)
Charlo saw Plant sitting ringside for his victory over Jose Benavidez Jr. on Saturday night at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino’s Michelob ULTRA Arena. They didn’t interact nearly four months after Plant slapped Charlo’s face during an altercation at the Terence Crawford-Errol Spence Jr. weigh-in July 28 at nearby T-Mobile Arena, but Charlo conveyed his willingness to officially fight Plant during his post-fight press conference.
Houston’s Charlo indicated, however, that he is more interested in fighting for Canelo Alvarez’s IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight titles, David Benavidez’s interim WBC 168-pound championship or defending his WBC middleweight crown than opposing Plant. The 33-year-old Charlo, who ended a 29-month layoff Saturday night, also downplayed his infamous incident with Plant.
“Like the whole world could come out and watch that Plant fight,” Charlo said. “Man, when I get a chance to – you know what I’m saying, do what I gotta do … he lucky tonight I ain’t go down there and slap his bitch ass! But I’m not mad at that. Like I don’t want revenge. You know what I’m saying? I’m gonna get it the right way. We gonna make these millions and then, you know what I’m saying, my revenge gonna be taking care of my family. I’m happy with that.
“Man, we ain’t worried about none of that. Like talk to me about something good. That sh!t old. That sh!t stale. We want something new. You know what I mean? Who got the belts? He don’t got no belt. He struggling right now. You know what I mean? I’m not worried about him. We still on top, we looking good. You know what I’m saying? We still going. They can’t wait for me to fight again. I can’t wait to fight again. As long as we keep it like that, we all right.”
Plant (22-2, 13 KOs), a former IBF super middleweight champ, last fought March 25, when David Benavidez beat him by unanimous decision in their 12-round grudge match at MGM Grand Garden Arena. The Ashland City, Tennessee native has lost only to Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) and Alvarez (60-2, 39 KOs), who knocked him out in the 11th round of their 168-pound title unification fight in November 2021 at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Prior to Saturday night, Charlo (33-0, 22 KOs) competed in the middleweight and junior middleweight divisions during his professional career. Charlo – who came in 3½ pounds overweight for their 10-round, 163-pound non-title bout – beat Benavidez decisively on all three scorecards (100-90, 99-91, 98-92) in Showtime Pay-Per-View’s co-feature before David Benavidez defeated Demetrius Andrade (32-1, 19 KOs) by technical knockout after the sixth round of their 12-round main event.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.