After violently pummeling Caleb Plant, making Canelo Alvarez vs. David Benavidez should be a no-brainer

Andreas Hale

After violently pummeling Caleb Plant, making Canelo Alvarez vs. David Benavidez should be a no-brainer  image

LAS VEGAS -- There were 13,865 galvanized fans showering the MGM Grand Arena with a type of energy only reserved for the stars of the sport. With every crunching blow and violent barrage of punches landed, that energy only grew more palpable to the point where you could feel it in your skin. By the time the scorecards were read in favor of their hero, it was undeniable.

MORE: Benavidez decisions Plant in brutal war

David Benavidez is a star.

More important is that Canelo Alvarez should absolutely be his next fight.

At 26 years of age, Benavidez is younger than Gervonta “Tank” Davis and only two years older than Ryan Garcia. He’s more accomplished than both as a two time WBC super middleweight champion and the current WBC interim champion. People often overlook that just because he happens to be the youngest fighter to ever win the 168-pound title when he did it at the age of 20. Yet, somehow, Benavidez name is rarely brought up when it comes to the future face of the sport.

That could all change very soon as Benavidez’s status as a star was certified with his vicious drubbing of Caleb Plant.

It was a frightening performance by Benavidez, who stalked and pounded on his prey until he nearly beat it into submission. After giving up the first few rounds, Benavidez’s suffocating pressure and combination punching began to slowly break the swift Plant down. Each body punch that sank into Plant’s ribs sapped the air out of his sails and by the 7th round it wasn’t the former IBF champion fighting to win, he was fighting for survival.

With each exchange, “The Mexican Monster” grew and so did the raucous crowd’s volume. Entering the championship rounds, the noise was deafening and Plant’s body was nearly broken. It’s a testament to Plant — who was knocked out by Canelo in November 2021 — that he refused to go down despite a face that was falling apart and legs that nearly gave out from under him after each bludgeoning blow.

But he made it to the final bell just to hear the scores of 115-113, 117-111 & 116-112 read as he suffered the second loss of his career.

Afterward, Benavidez made it clear what he wanted.

“I have a lot of respect for Canelo Alvarez but he has to give me a shot now,” Benavidez said of his mandatory status in his post-fight interview. “That’s what everyone wants to see. Now the fans are calling for this fight, the legends are calling for this fight, so let’s make it happen.”

The crowd erupted with their approval and social media lit up with the potential showdown.

Canelo is preparing for a homecoming fight against John Ryder at the Estadio Akron in Guadalajara, Mexico, in May and he will have a decision to make should he prevail.

The former No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world would love to avenge his points loss to Dmitry Bivol at light heavyweight. Some don’t see the rematch going much differently due to Canelo’s lack of size and Bivol’s technical superiority. But Canelo loves a good challenge and this is an opportunity to right a wrong.

So why would Canelo want to fight Benavidez instead of Bivol?

Pride.

More specifically: Mexican Pride.

Benavidez has made it loud and clear that he wants to claim both Cinco de Mayo and Mexican Independence Day weekends for his fights. Right now, Canelo has had a hold on them but could favor from Mexican fans be shifting toward Benavidez?

Maybe.

Benavidez is a totally different fighter than Canelo. Where Canelo is a skilled tactician with an emphasis on defense and body punching, Benavidez is a violent practitioner of what some would proudly call “Mexican Style.” This so-called style puts an emphasis on aggression and body punching that creates a crowd-pleasing style of high-octane offense. Some call it a “take one to give two” approach that relies on the offense to cover up any defensive liabilities. That could almost certainly apply to Benavidez except that he doesn’t think he gets enough credit for his defensive prowess.

“I feel like I didn’t just show that I was a power puncher tonight,” Benavidez said. “I showed that I had defense and head movement and I was able to move around the ring and cut the ring off really good.”

MORE: Sporting News super middleweight rankings

The compubox totals put an exclamation on that point. Benavidez was an offensive dynamo against Plant, landing 210 of 551 punches, an impressive 38%. Canelo landed only 117 of 361 punches (32%) against Plant. But where Benavidez surprised was in how little he got touched by Plant in the fight. The former IBF champion landed only 91 of 624 punches (15%) which was much worse than the 101 of 441 (22.9%) he landed against Canelo.

Maybe offense is Benavidez’s defense or we’re just not giving him enough credit in that department.

Either way, Benavidez presents a new challenge for Canelo and one that would almost certainly outperform a rematch between Canelo and Bivol at the box office. Benavidez is not just his mandatory, he now has demonstrated the ability to sell fights.

“It’s not like I’m begging for something that I don’t deserve,” Benavidez said. “I’ve been his mandatory challenger for the past two fights. This is something I have earned. “

With Bivol seeming to be more interested in becoming the undisputed light heavyweight champion in a fight with Artur Beterbiev than a rematch with Canelo at this time, it could leave Canelo with no choice but to face Benavidez. And with a growing contingency of fans demanding that fight, it would be hard for Canelo to let them down.

There’s no telling exactly how the fight would go, either. Canelo has appeared to slow down as he approaches his 33rd birthday. His punch output has declined and it is possible that the wear and tear of 62 professional fights is beginning to weigh on him. Benavidez has the style that would force Canelo to fight rather than allow the current undisputed super middleweight champion to pick his spots in a chess match.

Benavidez isn’t interested in chess unless he gets to smash the board over Canelo’s head. It would almost certainly be a crowd-pleasing fight, something that Canelo hasn’t truly had in his last several fights.

Aside from the Bivol rematch, there’s truly no excuse for Canelo to avoid the man who is looking to violently punch him off his lofty perch as boxing’s current superstar while also laying claim to the biggest Mexican star in the sport. But we’ll have to wait and see if that fight materializes later this year.

Canelo vs. Benavidez in Las Vegas on Mexican Independence Day weekend? There are very few fights in the sport that could rival the drawing power of that matchup. With the lucrative upside, unpredictable outcome, and the narrative of fighting for Mexico present, making this fight happen sounds like a no-brainer.

Andreas Hale

Andreas Hale Photo

Andreas Hale is the senior editor for combat sports at The Sporting News. Formerly at DAZN, Hale has written for various combat sports outlets, including The Ring, Sherdog, Boxing Scene, FIGHT, Champions and others. He has been ringside for many of combat sports’ biggest events, which include Mayweather-Pacquiao, Mayweather-McGregor, Canelo-GGG, De La Hoya-Pacquiao, UFC 229, UFC 202 and UFC 196, among others. He also has spent nearly two decades in entertainment journalism as an editor for BET and HipHopDX while contributing to MTV, Billboard, The Grio, The Root, Revolt, The Source, The Grammys and a host of others. He also produced documentaries on Kendrick Lamar, Gennadiy Golovkin and Paul George for Jay-Z’s website Life+Times.