It Won’t Happen, Until It Won’t Matter, But That May Be Okay
By Eddie Sanchez
The Super Middleweight Division is at its peak at the moment. Sure, this division, like all others in the great sport of boxing has had elite champions in its past. Some of the most notable include Joe Calzaghe (46-0, 32) and Andre Ward (32-0, 16).
But this division has the Cash Cow, Canelo Alvarez. It has tough champions like Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant, and there are also some younger fighters with vast potential like David Benavidez and David Morrell.
While much of the talk (and rightfully so) surrounds Canelo Alvarez and his new two fight deal with Matchroom, which will start in February against Yildirim and end in May with a bout that’s expected to be against Billy Joe Saunders, there are other interesting storylines to follow.
Two other storylines I am interested in are Caleb Plant’s immediate future, and the ongoing questions surrounding David Benavidez. What makes these nuggets so interesting, is that both fighters are under the PBC banner and neither are expected to be Canelo’s May 2021 opponent.
IBF Super Middleweight Champion, Caleb Plant, sits at 20-0 and has an upcoming bout against former champion Caleb Truax. Although he is one of three legitimate champions in the division, he still carries the “potential” label when you consider his resume (or rather lack thereof). Thus far in his career, he has displayed immense ability. He is slick and highly intelligent, but there are questions about just how far these skills can take him as he steps up in competition.
This upcoming bout is expected to be a victory, so much so that on the December 26th card featuring David Morrell and Mike Gavronski, the commentator on the live broadcast completely dismissed Truax as a challenge and would not back down from mentioning him as the best possible opponent for Canelo’s next fight.
While we are not used to seeing this type of honesty from a broadcasting team, these types of fights are commonplace in the sport, as the industry-heads look for the path towards least resistance to fights that gain them the most monetarily.
In no way am I shaming this fight. I am actually excited to see Caleb shine. He is most likely to be Canelo’s reintroduction to the PPV market once he handles business with DAZN. The questions I am considering are if he will stay active following his January 30th bout, or if he will simply train for the high profile fight that many expect him to get in September.
There is a high profile potential opponent that is sitting in the wings over at PBC by the name of David Benavidez. The former WBC champion is undefeated at 23-0 and just might be the best non-belt holder in the division.
If you don’t remember, he has lost his WBC belt twice for extra curricular activities. The first time the belt was taken from him was because of a failed drug test from cocaine. The second came from missing weight multiple times.
Since he first became champion in September 2017, there have been many in the media clamouring for a Benavidez-Plant title fight. This of course has not been lost by each of these men.
Most recently, this is what Caleb Plant had to say: “As of now, between the Benavidez fight and the Canelo fight, the Canelo fight is more appealing. He’s a unified world champion; I’m a world champion. For all of that to be on the line, I feel like that would be a mega fight. Not that the Benavidez fight isn’t appealing to me; that’s a fight that I do want. But with him losing his belt for a second time I feel like it’s taken some of the steam away from that.”
Ouch. That certainly hurts if you’re Benavidez. It seems clear that Plant is intent to wait for his opportunity to make the most money he could make in the sport. If you were to ask him though, you will get a more positive outlook on his current situation.
“I would want to get a fight with Plant first, just to get that out of the way,” Benavidez told FightHubTV, when asked whom he preferred to fight first, Plant or Canelo Alvarez. “The time is past. We’ve been talking sh-t to each other, it’s been hyped up for like three years. I feel like it’s time. I might get that fight soon.”
This my friends is what we call a good, old fashioned predicament. It’s a shame Benavidez finds himself in this situation. There are many in the media who claim he has the best shot at dethroning Canelo within the division. He is young, he is fast, and he is strong. Unfortunately, he has also proven to be undisciplined.
Because of his shortcomings outside of the ring, we are most likely going to find ourselves in a situation where Caleb Plant and David Benavidez don’t face each other, or (pretty likely they) at least won’t face each other until both are non-belt holders and Plant has a loss on his record.
This wouldn’t be the end of the world, but it was a fight that PBC could have used to immensely grow the star power for the victor prior to a potential Canelo fight, or other potential unification bouts. Now Caleb is in a position where he has too much to lose and David holds very little leverage.
If you were able to reach Al Haymon and get a truthful answer, it’s likely that he wouldn’t care about the potential missed opportunity. He may view both as potential undefeated opponents for Canelo, to be a higher priority and more lucrative option then what we previously discussed.
While this may prove to be true, the fans surely would have loved to see the bout. PBC has a lot of interesting fighters in their stable spread across the divisions in boxing. When they have guys this talented and close in age, it’s always a shame when the fights don’t happen when they are supposed to.
While it is more likely than not that Caleb will take the work he gets on January 30th against Truax, and train from then-on until the Canelo opportunity likely presents itself, I think this is a mistake. Caleb Plant can still use some work building his namesake and could benefit greatly from staying sharp.
If he is to look for an opponent, the ask would be to find someone marketable and limited. Fortunately, there is a perfect man who fits this description in David Lemieux. The Canadian is a former Middleweight Champion who holds a record of 42-4, with notable losses to Marco Antonio Rubio, Gennadiy Golovkin and Billy Joe Saunders. He also is a star in his native country and is well known within the States.
Despite his limited ability when tested against the most elite fighters in the world, he is a strong puncher and would provide Plant an opportune test. I know there are many experienced fans out there who may yawn at that distinction, but Lemieux has proven to be a capable challenge throughout his career. He is also highly ranked: #3 WBC, #3 WBO and #4 WBA.
Although he is not ranked in the IBF, the sanctioning body would likely consider him to be a worthy opponent when you consider that their top two contender slots are vacant and Plant will be coming off a bout against the IBF’s #3 ranked Truax.
As a fan of Lemieux, I would love to see this fight happen. Caleb Plant will stay busy (if he wins) against a legitimate opponent, there is marginal intrigue for a potential upset, and it could set up a PPV with Canelo nicely (regardless of who wins, okay I’ll stop a Lemieux Stan).
As a champion in the division, these are the types of opportunities that one can consider. It’s a nice standing as a professional, and one that David Benavidez should not have taken lightly.
For him, the best thing to do is stay busy. PBC can offer guys like Alfredo Angulo and Andre Dirrell as notable names who can help him prove that he can maintain his weight and discipline while he waits in the wings.
Another excellent opportunity can be Daniel Jacobs. The former Middleweight champion is now a free agent and has strong ties to PBC. This could be marketed as a toss-up fight and could possibly even stretch to a marginally successful PPV headliner.
Given that Benavidez has skill, there will be options out there for him. Unfortunately, because he does not hold a belt, an opportunity like Daniel Jacobs may be something that his potential opponent may use against him. Daniel Jacobs has never been that type of fighter in the industry, but it’s always important to consider the possibilities.
Although it’s more likely than not that we won’t see a Benavidez-Plant fight this year, there are still interesting fights out there and their respective careers can still provide excitement for boxing fans. We are nine days away from Plant-vs-Truax. From there we are likely to start seeing answers to some of our questions regarding his immediate future. Hopefully we also get more insight into Benavidez’ plans because I know boxing fans all over the world want to see the young man redeem himself and thrive.
