On the night of March 25-26, the United States will compete for the interim world title for the WBC super middleweight title between American Caleb Plant (22-1, 13 KOs) and David Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs).

One of the best fights of March for both athletes in terms of boxing quality, results, age (and therefore the up-to-dateness of the fight) and comparability of styles.

Plant was unsuccessful in his fight against Canelo. Benavidez is sure Saul is afraid of him.

By 2021, Caleb Plant was the IBF world champion and was just a good, pretty bright boxer. At the end of this year, he got his chance. Meeting Saul Alvarez is a chance in itself. Light up more and make headlines if you win. And also – a chance to become the absolute world champion. However, Caleb was unsuccessful in the fight.

It can’t be said that Caleb looks too bad in terms of boxing. Pretty good fight. I started well, I tried to pick up the technique of a more active opponent. And he provoked before the fight. He even caused a miniature fight with a Mexican.

But as the rounds progressed, things got worse for Plant. In general, the picture has not changed much – it just hit less, and Saul pressed more and more. As a result, he put pressure on him – knocking the opponent down. And instead of waiting and waking up, Caleb instantly exploded and almost fell again. All subsequent finishes are a matter of technique.

But that’s not scary either. Sometimes boxers lose. Even knockouts. And even act like that after missed blows. The problem is, in the middle of the fight, Plant started asking Canelo if he was a good enough boxer. This is already the case when you give your opponent more and more bullets. This was very embarrassing as a manifestation of weakness.

His future rival, the American-Mexican Benavidez, is generally sure that Saul Alvarez is afraid of him. Even Floyd Mayweather talks about it:

“If it were up to me, Alvarez would have fought David Benavidez. Canelo is a great fighter, but I think Benavidez avoids the fight.

This is my personal opinion that I am allowed to express. We want to see Alvarez against Benavidez. Let’s do it,” said Mayweather.

Canelo says he doesn’t want to date Mexicans. And here Saul is trying to stand out from the other Mexicans because the conflict between Barrera and Morales or other Mexicans has always been extremely hot. But Alvarez doesn’t want to.

Overall, the logic is that Saul doesn’t want to and exists for sporting reasons. Benavidez is huge. He may not be as versatile as the other fighters Canelo has lost, but he is a giant, heavy, long-armed and strong. Either break it or break it yourself. Is there any interest in this for Canelo at the moment? This is not a fact, considering it was necessary at first to decide what to do with the ambition to defeat tougher opponents, and now with the desire for revenge.

The plant returned after this defeat. In his fight to comeback, Caleb showed no signs of nervousness or self-esteem issues. He entered the ring provocatively to Anthony Dirrell and pulled him out of the box. He then knocked out his opponent in the ninth round with perhaps the best blow of last year. After that, he provoked again – he showed that he had buried his opponent.

Benavidez does not box for another five months. David last entered the ring in the spring of 2022. Simply stylistically created for him, David Lemieux endured everything he could and lost ahead of schedule – already in the third round by technical knockout.

Now the young contenders are vying for the title of interim WBC super middleweight champion. The winner can immediately qualify to fight against Canelo and even fight for all titles in the category.

Who is your favourite?

In this case, the majority believes David Benavidez will win. It has a coefficient of about 1.34. At the Caleb Factory – 3.98. A serious break.

Of course, logical quotes if you look at the situation simply. And the coefficients always show exactly that – a simple vision – and it shows. On the one hand is an invincible champion (although not fully fledged). At 26, over 88% of knockouts, height 188 cm, arm span 189 cm On the other hand, a 30-year-old challenger. He was defeated by an attacking opponent recently. Height – 185 cm, arm span – 188 cm.

And in general, Benavidez occasionally presses to intimidate the opponent. No one has been able to resist until now. In offensive actions, there is not enough charm on his part, but enough strength and brute strength for three.

But it is worth noting that Plant is not just a child. And it’s definitely better than David’s recordings. Except, perhaps, Anthony Dirrell, who never managed to shut himself down, but managed to torture himself. And aside from David Lemieux, who should have lost anyway, Benavidez only has good names on his track record and no more names.

So this confrontation is literally a test for both. Definite test. Losing to Caleb Plant is undesirable. His goal is to fight for the championship. He’s smart, technical, strong and knows how to do it. Moving away from the second-best opponent (the American’s record is better than the opponent’s, but he doesn’t break both) is the last thing.

Benavidez will have enough time to restore the situation in case of defeat. But now his fight against Saul Alvarez is one of the most talked about conflicts. If he wins, he will be able to make a claim. And in case of defeat, millions of fans will give up and say, “Obviously, another super competitor for Canelo is scattered throughout the suburbs.”

But all of this is indirectly a boxing philosophy. A holiday in the ring is guaranteed. Benavidez does not know how to box calmly and cleverly. He oppresses, goes forward, makes mistakes and crushes his counterparts. The plant is the opposite. Good at number two. Accurate, solid and technical. These are the fights fans want to see. Both can suffer, but due to the level of boxing it is a pleasure to watch.

Second winning question. The point is, they were created to make a show worth watching. That’s why we open boxing.