David Benavidez is scheduled to tackle rival Caleb Plant in an necessary 168-pound showdown Saturday night time on the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Listed below are 5 questions — and solutions — going into the extremely anticipated pay-per-view struggle.
What makes the matchup compelling?
This can be a matchup of two elite fighters of their primes, which doesn’t occur usually sufficient in boxing today. It’s an fascinating model matchup, a hard-punching stalker vs. an athletic boxer who additionally has some pop. The stakes are excessive. The winner can be on the entrance of the road to problem undisputed champion Canelo Alvarez, in all probability after the Mexican star challenges Dmitry Bivol once more within the fall. The loser must rebuild, significantly if the result’s conclusive. That may be an extended, tough course of. And the seemingly real pressure between the principals has injected further power into an already-compelling promotion. Certainly, that is the very best 168-pound matchup not involving Alvarez.
Is Benavidez nearly as good as he appears to be?
We’ll see. Benavidez’s seek-and-destroy model has lain waste to the overwhelming majority of his opponents, together with knockouts in his final six fights. He seems to be a real menace to anybody, together with Alvarez. Is he? The attention check says, “sure.” Nevertheless, he hasn’t confronted the extent of opposition essential to show past doubt that he’s among the many finest fighters of his period. His most significant victory? In all probability then-titleholder Anthony Dirrell, who was stopped by Benavidez in 9 rounds in 2019. Past Dirrell has been a string of stable, however restricted opponents. Plant arguably is one of the best fighter Benavidez can have confronted, that means a victory – significantly a convincing one — will assist underscore the notion that Benavidez is the actual deal.
Might Plant do to Benavidez what he did to Anthony Dirrell?
Probably, however in all probability not. Plant had solely three stoppages in his earlier 10 fights however demonstrated towards Dirrell that he can finish even an enormous struggle right away, knocking the previous titleholder into unconsciousness with an ideal left hook. That punch would harm anybody. On the identical time, Benavidez isn’t Dirrell. The latter was a 38-year-old with a variety of miles on his odometer, one who had been stopped by Benavidez three fights earlier. He may’ve been ripe for such an ignominious destiny. Benavidez is an enormous, sturdy, contemporary 26-year-old who has taken one of the best that every one his opponents have thrown at him. It’s tough to think about a traditionally common puncher turning into the primary to place Benavidez away.
Will this struggle seem like Plant vs. Alvarez?
In all probability. Plant, a slick boxer, will seemingly give Benavidez issues along with his stick-and-move ways early within the struggle however he’ll take increasingly punches because the struggle progresses, get worn down and wrestle down the stretch as he did in his 11th-round knockout loss to Alvarez in 2021. In fact, most would agree that Benavidez can’t field in addition to Alvarez. On the identical time, he throws extra photographs than the Mexican and is probably the most correct puncher in boxing, in accordance with CompuBox. That would compensate for any deficiency in his technical expertise – if there are any deficiencies – and relative lack of expertise in huge fights. That’s why I’m predicting that Benavidez will break down and finally cease Plant someday in the course of the championship rounds.
Can the winner beat Alvarez?
Is dependent upon Alvarez. The pound-for-pounder defeated Plant conclusively, constructing a lead on the scorecards after which stopping the challenger within the penultimate spherical. There was little question about who the higher fighter was. Plant in all probability may win a rematch provided that the 32-year-old Alvarez is in decline or hindered by accidents, which appears to have been the case within the Mexican’s previous few fights. We’ll see how Alvarez appears to be like towards John Ryder on Might 6 after which, presumably, in his rematch with Bivol in September. In the meantime, Benavidez can be an underdog however may be aggressive towards Alvarez even at his finest. The previous is of course huge for a 168-pounder, has elite hearth energy and is in his bodily prime. If nothing else, it will be fascinating to see how that struggle would play out.
