By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
David Benavidez just showed why he is called the “Mexican Monster”.
After surviving a slow start that almost cost him the bout, the hard-hitting Benavidez flipped the switch in the last seven rounds to outpoint the slick Caleb Plant during their super middleweight blockbuster boxing showdown last March 26, 2023, held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
All three judges scored the match in favor of Benavidez which helped improve his professional boxing record to 27 wins, 23 knockouts, with no losses.
Despite failing to pull off his prediction of knocking Plant out under six rounds, the retooled and laser-focused Benavidez punished the former champion in the second half and remained consistent with his hounding pressure until the 12th and final three minutes of the bloody slugfest.
Plant was doing well in the first six rounds when he exposed Benavidez’s lack of head movement and dominated with his quick 1-2 straight combinations that kept on landing in the Mexican’s face.
The top dog in the division also fought wisely to counter Benavidez’s power when he patiently waited for several openings to unleash his left hook counter that disrupted his rhythm.
However, as the rounds progressed to the seventh, Benavidez suddenly became a beast and decided to lure Plant within his desired distance which changed the entire complexion of the fight.
Benavidez’s strategy then paid off dividends as Plant was forced to go aggressive to score more points.
Things escalated quickly in the eighth round when Benavidez started to hurt Plant when he landed two vicious short-distanced uppercuts.
The punches that Plant took then slowed him down for the rest of the fight and failed to sustain his clever approach of taking Benavidez into a counter-hitting game.
Bloodied and battered, Plant wowed the crowd when he was able to withstand Benavidez’s power punches and gave his all in the 12th round.
Desperate to win the final round to sway the decision of the judges, Plant went toe-to-toe with Benavidez and answered back with his quick jabs but wasn’t enough to make up for his lack of points from the eighth to the 11th round.
“First of all, I want to thank this whole beautiful crowd for coming out. You guys made this happen. Second, I wanna shout out Caleb Plant. I know there was a lot said between us, but in the end we settled this like men. He’s a helluva fighter. I’m happy we gave the fans the best rivalry of the year or the last five years. I’m just very happy,” said Benavidez after the main event.
