Plant Gets Plastered By Benavidez

March 28, 2023Middleweights, Recent Fights, Tom Donelsonadmin

By Tom Donelson (BWAA) Member Boxing Writers of America

Caleb Plant after his loss to Canelo Alvarez came back with a brutal knockout of Anthony Dirrell and faced undefeated David Benavidez for another shot at Canelo Alvarez.  The winner will be in a position for a big money fight and Benavidez would like to be a champion again.   On paper this was the classic battle between the boxer Plant versus the power punching Benavidez .

Plant began the fight and feinted a few times while Benavidez fell short on a couple of body shots.  Plants jab to the body and then jabbed to the head before holding.  Plant won the opening rounds with his jab. 

The second round saw Plant begin with a quick flurry and dodged out of the way of Benavidez punches.  Benavidez landed a good left hook while Plant circles around to land accurate fast punches to the body.  The round ended with a Plant jab .

Plant began the third round aggressively with a left hook while Benavidez attempts to cut off the ring while scoring with a left hook.  Plant was jabbing but Benavidez looked like he was starting to time Plant’s jab . Plant smiled as Benavidez scored a hard right.

The fourth saw Benavidez starting with body shots and Plant responded with body combinations of his own.  Benavidez looked for spots to land his shots but Plant defensive skills proved elusive . Benavidez connected with a left hook and Plant was forced to hold.  After four rounds, I had score 39-37 in favor of Plant, but it was a close fight with no one at this point dominating .

Benavidez went to the body at the beginning of the fifth round and Plant’s hand speed forced Benavidez to the rope and a left hook missed Plant’s head.  As the round continued, it looked like Benavidez trapped Plant in the corner but Plant spun away from the rope and Plant closed the round with a hook.

Round six saw Benavidez making moves to take over the fight as he started to close the gap against Plant.  Benavidez landed a double left and a right, Plant started to hold more.    This was the round that the fight changed in Benavidez’s favor.  I had the fight 58-56 but there was a feeling that the momentum would change and the boxer would succumb to the pressure of the slugger over the second half of the fight.

Round seven was close but I had it for Benavidez as his pressure took control of the round and he landed the harder punch.  There was one Benavidez left hook that bothered Plant.   Over the sixth and seventh round, Benavidez landed 26 punches to Plant’s 16. 

Plant began the eighth round holding and he got away with lot of holding but then Benavidez hurt him.  A right-hand lead sent Plant reeling and the referee Kenny Baylas had Plant evaluated which gave Plant time to clear his head. This may have saved him from a stoppage. 

Plant landed a left hook to the body after taking a left hook to his body.  Plant landed a combination but had little effect on Benavidez.  Benavidez landed a left hook to the head and to the body followed by a solid right.  After nine rounds, I had it 86-85 in favor of Benavidez but from this point it was Benavidez’s fight.

In the tenth round, Benavidez landed 43 punches which included rights to the body, uppercuts and left hand was flying and he landed 36 more punches in the eleventh round.  Plant’s corner considered stopping the fight, but Plant wanted to finish this fight on his feet.    Benavidez had not lost a round since the fifth round.   Plant came out in the final round with the goal of standing on his feet, but Benavidez landed body shots and right hands to the head but at the end, Plant unleashed a combination, landing three punches but Benavidez countered with a fierce left hook as the bell rang.

I had the fight 116-112 and the judges had it 115-113, 117-111 and 116-112.  All reasonable scores and the fight was close over the first six rounds and even the seventh could have been called in Plant’s favor but the final five rounds were easily Benavidez as his power simply overwhelmed Plant.  Benavidez landed twice as many punches and nearly three times the power shot and even landed more jabs despite Plant throwing more than double of the jabs.

Plant is the third best super middleweight, but he lost to the two best in the division by wide margin.  Alvarez stopped him in the eleventh and Benavidez dominated the last five rounds by a wide margin. Over the last five rounds, Benavidez landed 146 punches to 38 punches.  Contrast that to the first seven rounds in which Benavidez landed 64 punches to Plant’s 53.  This shows this was two fights with the first seven rounds close but the final five rounds saw complete domination by Benavidez.

For Benavidez, there are several fights available but there is one fight he wants with Canelo Alvarez.  A September match up in Mexico featuring two Mexican’s best fighters celebrating Mexican independence.  This would be a great fight with the tough rugged Benavidez against the more technically sound Alvarez. 

Alvarez still is viewing Bivol rematch at the light heavyweight division and Benavidez does have other options including Jermall Charlo who is looking for a big pay day.   As for Plant, he will be a worthy opponent for any major contender for Super Middleweight including Jermall Charlo.  

In case it matters, this was for the WBC interim Champion but this means Benavidez is not truly champ but he is in line to fight for a title in the future.

Gervonta Davis / Hector Luis Garcia (RECAP) Review

January 19, 2023Lightweights, Recap, Recent Fights, Tom Donelson, Videoadmin

By Tom Donelson / Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA)

Gervonta Davis did what he was supposed to do against Hector Luis García and after three inert rounds at the beginning of the fight, he took control of the fight and stopped Garcia.  The first  round was a feeling out round with little activity but Garcia landed a few more shots in the second round to take the round,.  You might have given Garcia round one and two plus possibly three, but after that it was all Gervonta “the tank” Davis. 

The fourth round saw Tank dominate most of the round but García managed to land a straight left late in the round for his most notable shot.   Throughout the fifth and sixth round, Davis was the busier and landed some good shots but García was competitive in both rounds.  I had the fight even after the sixth round but it was becoming evident that Davis was the harder puncher. 

Davis took his game to another level and started to throw and land more punches.   Garcia still managed to land his share of punches throughout the seventh, but the seventh round belonged to Davis . The eighth round saw Davis take command, but the round was delayed as a fight in the stand delayed the fight in the ring.   Tank landed 30 punches to Garcia only three and Davis entered into a  search and destroy mode.  Garcia eyes started to close and at the end of the round, he turned to his corner and stated he couldn’t see .

Davis connected on 99 punches vs Garcia 55 and Garcia only connected on 16% of his shots.  While Garcia was more active with more punches thrown, they proved ineffectual as he failed to hurt Davis and Davis connected on 41% of his punches as he landed nearly double the punches and was more efficient with his shots. 

The big fight over the horizon will be Ryan Garcia, the LA Flash with 23 victories and no defeat to go with 19 knockouts and Davis.  This is one of those fights that will actually sale a few PPV . The problem is at what weight.  Garcia has moved to140 pounds and a recent fight with Javier Fortuna.  The first obstacles will be what weight they will fight.  Davis titles are in the lightweight division and a 140-pound fight will not involve a belt .

The other obstacles are Davis’s legal issue including a possible domestic altercation and a hit and run accident that can land him in jail.   So, the negotiations continue for what could be a big fight.