Tokyo Olympics 2021

Caleb Plant

David Benavidez: I Need To Earn Canelo, I’m Going To Keep Calling Charlo Out!

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For the second time in his young undefeated career, David Benavidez relinquished his super middleweight championship outside of the ring. 

The first instance occurred in 2018 when he was stripped of his strap after testing positive for the central compound found in cocaine. In August, after recapturing his WBC title with a KO win over Anthony Dirrell in 2019, Benavidez blew weight by 2.8 pounds for his fight against Roamer Alexis Angulo and was stripped of the belt again.

The latter mistake was a costly one considering Canelo Alvarez made it clear that he was going to enter the division with his sights set on capturing all of the titles. Alvarez picked up Benavidez’s vacant 168-pound title in December when he beat Callum Smith and promptly defended the title in February with an easy knockout win over mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim. 

Benavidez (23-0, 20 KOs) now has to work his way back up to the title picture after seemingly letting a guaranteed winning lottery ticket slip through his hands. The 23-year-old returns to fight Ronald Ellis at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut on Showtime Boxing main event Saturday with a renewed focus.

“A lot of my promoters and myself were disappointed when I didn’t make weight,” Benavidez told The Last Stand Podcast with Brian Custer. “For my career I think [training in Big Bear, California] is the route I’m going to take, mentally and physically I feel like I’m at my best when I’m out here and I’m at my peak. I feel like the big fights are going to come sooner than later, so I feel like for me to be at my best shape, to get the best out of myself, I feel like I need to train up here so I’m going to be coming back.”

Big Bear has become a popular training locale for boxers in recent years. Even Alvarez has trained in the California mountains before moving camp permanently to the San Diego area. 

Benavidez knows that he has to earn his stripes to have a chance to win back his belt from Alvarez.

“I want to earn the Canelo fight, I feel like the way I earn the Canelo fight is going through all these people [Billy Joe Saunders, Jermall Charlo, Caleb Plant] and I’m sure I can make it happen, I’m 100% sure I can beat all these guys,” he said. “So the only thing I need is an opportunity right now and at the end of the day boxing wins because these are the fights fans want to see.”

Benavidez was also positioning himself for a showdown with the IBF champion Plant, but without the title, Benavidez realizes he will be on the outside looking in at the championship picture — at least for now. 

“I feel like [Plant is] going to sit out as long as he can until he gets the Canelo fight because for him it’s just business, and business-wise that fight makes more sense to him,” said Benavidez. “I feel like I’m more of a threat and he loses more against me than if he loses against Canelo. But even if he gets the Canelo fight and he beats him or loses I still want to fight Caleb Plant either way. I feel like there’s a lot of unsettled business we need to settle.”

With Alvarez and Plant not being viable options at the moment, Benavidez is instead focusing on a meeting with 160-pound WBC champion Jermall Charlo.

“I’m going to keep calling him out, I’m going to keep antagonizing him, I’m going to keep pushing his buttons until he has to see me in the ring,” said Benavidez. “Hopefully that fight happens, I feel like for me just talking about which way my career wants to go I feel like that has to be one of the fights I have to get … That’ll be his last fight at 168, I’ll send him back down to 160.”

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com 


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Plant-Truax Peaked At 2,019,000 Viewers; Most-Watched FOX Fight In 13 Months

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Viewers were interested in watching Caleb Plant fight Saturday night, even though he was a huge favorite over mandatory challenger Caleb Truax.

According to Nielsen Media Research numbers released Tuesday, an average of 1,887,000 viewers watched Plant convincingly out-box Truax in the main event of FOX’s tripleheader from Los Angeles. A peak audience of 2,019,000 tuned in toward the end of Plant’s dominant, 12-round win at Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall.

The viewership of Plant-Truax was the highest for a “FOX PBC Fight Night” telecast since December 2019. The main event that night – Jermell Charlo’s 11th-round knockout of Tony Harrison in their WBC 154-pound championship rematch – drew a peak audience of 2,233,000 and an average audience of 2,223,000.

Plant-Truax was the most-watched boxing match televised by FOX during the pandemic as well.

FOX’s entire three-bout broadcast attracted an average viewership of 1,608,000. That also marked the network’s highest average audience since it brought boxing back to its airwaves August 8, following a five-month hiatus due to COVID-19.

Plant’s previous appearance on FOX – a 10th-round stoppage of another mandatory challenger, Germany’s Vincent Feigenbutz (32-3, 28 KOs) – attracted a peak audience of 1,809,000 last February 15 from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. That entire three-fight show drew an average audience of 1,528,000.

The 28-year-old Plant (21-0, 12 KOs), of Ashland City, Tennessee, won every round on the scorecards of all three judges Saturday night (120-108, 120-108, 120-108). He entered their bout as at least a 50-1 favorite versus Truax (31-5-2, 19 KOs, 1 NC), a former IBF super middleweight champ from St. Michael, Minnesota.

In the co-feature Saturday night, Brooklyn-based heavyweight prospect Michael Coffie (12-0, 9 KOs) knocked down Philadelphia’s Darmani Rock (17-1, 12 KOs) twice in the third round, when their scheduled 10-rounder was stopped.

Joey Spencer (12-0, 9 KOs), a junior middleweight prospect from Linden, Michigan, knocked out Isiah Seldon (14-4-1, 5 KOs) in the first round of the fight that opened FOX’s telecast. Spencer dropped Seldon, of Somers Point, New Jersey, twice in the first round.

Three preliminary fights FOX televised earlier Saturday night drew an average viewership of 871,000 and a peak viewership of 1,221,000.

That thee-bout show was considered a separate telecast, though it immediately preceded the “FOX PBC Fight Night” tripleheader on the same network. PBC prelims usually air on FS1, FOX’s all-sports cable channel, on nights when FOX broadcasts boxing. 

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.

Caleb Truax: Like First DeGale Fight, Plant Is Talking About Everybody But Me

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The last time Caleb Truax sensed that a heavily favored IBF super middleweight champion underestimated him, he pulled off perhaps boxing’s biggest upset of 2017.

Three years after defeating James DeGale in London, Truax, now 37, hopes to rejuvenate his career by knocking Caleb Plant out of position to land lucrative fights later this year. The unbeaten Plant is regularly listed as at least a 45-1 favorite to successfully defend his 168-pound crown against Truax on Saturday night in the main event of a FOX tripleheader from Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in Los Angeles (8 p.m. EST; 5 p.m. PST).

Truax (31-4-2, 19 KOs, 1 NC), of St. Michael, Minnesota, has heard and read enough about Plant positioning himself for a multimillion-dollar payday against Canelo Alvarez during the promotion of their fight to suspect Plant thinks he is in for an easy night. That, Truax promised, couldn’t be further from the truth.

Truax realizes that this very well could be his last title fight if he doesn’t upset Plant (20-0, 12 KOs), of Ashland City, Tennessee. Winning would earn Truax another payday that would help secure the financial futures of his 5-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son.

“I love it, man,” Truax told BoxingScene.com. “It’s similar to the DeGale fight, where he was talking about everybody but me. You know, fighting George Groves and David Benavidez and whoever, making all this money doing that. And I get the same vibe this time around from Plant, with all the talk about Canelo and David Benavidez. It’s like, ‘You’ve gotta fight me [Saturday night], bro. You better be concentrating on me, instead of counting your money that you’re trying to make in the future.’ I know I’m an underdog. I embrace that role. And if he is overlooking me, that’s gonna be his mistake. That’s for damn sure!”

The former IBF super middleweight champion lost his immediate rematch to DeGale by unanimous decision in April 2018. He is 2-0 since then, but he has been beleaguered by a nagging right Achilles injury that finally has healed and a deep, disgusting gash over his right eyebrow that rendered his IBF elimination match against Peter Quillin a no-contest after just the second round in April 2019.

An illness forced Truax to withdraw from another IBF eliminator against Alfredo Angulo on the day of their weigh-in five months ago. Angulo (26-8, 21 KOs) lost a 10-round unanimous decision to Truax’s late replacement, Vladimir Hernandez (12-4, 6 KOs), on August 29 at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

Truax, who is ranked third by the IBF, has since been declared Plant’s mandatory challenger. 

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.

Caleb Plant: I’m The Big Dog at 168 – I’m Not Chasing Nobody!

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Some people believe Caleb Plant is the real deal.

Others not so much.

But it doesn’t much matter to the Tennessee-born super middleweight either way.

He’s got enough belief for all y’all.

“I’ll be here for a long time,” he told Boxing Scene. “I’m not chasing nobody. I’m the champion. I’m the world champion. I’m the big dog at 168 pounds.

“So I’m not going to see anybody, they’ve got to come see me.”

Now 28 years old and two defenses into his reign as the IBF’s standard-bearer, Plant returns to the ring Saturday night in Los Angeles after fighting just once in the dumpster fire that was 2020.

Upon arrival he’ll see Caleb Truax, the rugged Minnesotan who held the same belt for four months during a two-fight series with James DeGale. He beat DeGale by majority decision in England in December 2017, then lost to him on a narrow unanimous nod in Las Vegas in April 2018.

The Plant-Truax fight will top a three-bout card to be broadcast by Fox at 8 p.m. ET.

DeGale relinquished the belt without a defense and the IBF awarded it to Jose Uzcategui, whom Plant beat by unanimous decision to earn championship status in January 2019. Stoppages of Mike Lee (TKO 3) and Vincent Feigenbutz (TKO 10) followed within 13 months, before the sports world went dark.

Still, while other fighters have had routines disrupted beyond recognition, Plant has thrived.

“I can honestly say this is one of my best camps,” he said on a Thursday conference call.

“I’ve had great sparring. I haven’t had any restrictions as far as COVID-19 goes when it comes to sparring partners or strength and conditioning or being in the gym. So I’ve been really focused on what I need to do and I’m just ready to go in there and handle business.”

Lest anyone forget, Plant’s pre-title back story was particularly harrowing.

He grew up in rural poverty, endured homelessness as an adult and suffered the ultimate nightmare when his 19-month-old daughter succumbed to a rare illness.

He dedicated the championship-winning bout to the late toddler, slept with an image of the IBF belt on the ceiling above his bed and promised he’d bring the real thing back to her grave site as champion.

That inhuman drive to endure, he told Boxing Scene, stemmed from the mettle forged by tragedy.

“I buried her one Thursday and I was back in the gym the next Thursday,” Plant said.

“Even throughout my workouts it was hard to keep my emotions in. I was tearing up and crying. But I’m a man and it’s my job, no matter what’s tossed at me through life, to continue on. I still have a job to do and I still have responsibilities. It’s my job as a man to take care of those responsibilities. On top of that I knew that that’s what she would want me to do. So I don’t fold, break, or bend for nobody.

“It’s definitely made me a tougher man. I’ve been through things that people don’t even have nightmares about and I came out the other side. I’m stronger for it. I’m better for it. It happened in my life for a reason and I carry Alia with me everywhere I go and I always will. I’m just happy to keep my promise that I made to her. I knew I would, but I’m just happy that I finally brought it to fruition.”

A memorable “Sweethands” nickname, coupled with a TV-friendly ring style and a comfortable charisma – not to mention two successful title defenses – have elevated Plant’s brand to the point where, assuming he gets past Truax, he’ll be on a short list of desirable foes for the division’s golden goose.

Pay-per-view stalwart Canelo Alvarez holds both the WBA and WBC titles after a one-sided defeat of Callum Smith last month and he’s ranked No. 1 or close to it on most pound-for-pound lists. He’s expected to steamroll Avni Yildirim in a mandatory defense next month in Miami and, should a trilogy fight with Gennady Golovkin not materialize, Plant’s chances to share the marquee will increase.

The camps were discussing a bout before Alvarez went after Smith, and Bleacher Report’s Kelsey McCarson gave Plant top billing among the 168-pounders in terms of who Canelo should fight next.

Alvarez is also the Ring Magazine champ at super middle, with Plant ranked second among contenders.

So, while Plant didn’t say his name, it’s no secret he’ll be on the Tennessean’s mind come Sunday.

“I’m still far from where I want to be,” Plant said.

“I’m still far from everything I want to accomplish and to keep that hunger, that motivation, you have to be honest with yourself about who you are and where you’re at.

“I know where I’m at in my career and how much farther I want to go so it’s no time for me to let my foot off the gas. I need to keep my foot on their necks and I need to keep pushing because, as I’ve said, I’m looking to become the first undisputed world super middleweight champion of all time and you can’t do that with just one world title.”

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This week’s title-fight schedule:

IBF super middleweight title – Los Angeles, Calif.
Caleb Plant (champion/No. 7 IWBR) vs. Caleb Truax (No. 3 IBF/No. 15 IWBR)
Plant (20-0, 12 KO): Third title defense; TKOs in two title defenses after five straight decision wins
Truax (31-4-2, 19 KO): Fourth title fight (1-2); Held IBF title at 168 pounds (2017-18, zero defenses)
Fitzbitz says: I’ll rely on historians for confirmation, but I’ve got to think this is the first title fight matching guys named Caleb. I’m a big fan of the one surnamed Plant. He’ll win big. Plant in 9 (95/5)

This week’s trash title-fight schedule:

WBA heavyweight title – Hollywood, Fla.
Manuel Charr (champion/No. 41 IWBR) vs. Trevor Bryan (No. 1 WBA/No. 55 IWBR)
Why it’s trash: Well, there’s the usual WBA nonsense. Charr has a championship belt with zero worthwhile wins. Bryan is somehow a No. 1 contender with an equally balky resume. But the fact that they’re held up as elite in a division with so many other better fighters is even more ridiculous.

WBA cruiserweight title – Hollywood, Fla.
Beibut Shumenov (champion/Unranked IWBR) vs. Raphael Murphy (No. 8 WBA/Unranked IWBR)
Why it’s trash: Yep, it’s the WBA again. Perhaps they’re having a convention this weekend on Florida’s Atlantic Coast. Anyway, we have Shumenov carrying the second of four tiers of belts in this division, though he’s not done anything of note since losing to a 49-year-old Bernard Hopkins in 2014. Yuck.

Last week’s picks: 1-0 (WIN: Fulton)
2021 picks record: 1-0 (100 percent)
Final 2020 picks record: 39-10 (79.6 percent)
Overall picks record: 1,157-375 (75.5 percent)

NOTE: Fights previewed are only those involving a sanctioning body’s full-fledged title-holder – no interim, diamond, silver, etc. Fights for WBA “world championships” are only included if no “super champion” exists in the weight class.

Lyle Fitzsimmons has covered professional boxing since 1995 and written a weekly column for Boxing Scene since 2008. He is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Reach him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter – @fitzbitz.