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Caleb Plant says Canelo Alvarez punches harder than David Benavidez but isn’t on his level in combination punching. The former IBF super middleweight champion Plant (22-2, 13 KOs) has lost to both fighters but was stopped in the 11th round by Canelo in November 2021 and then went the 12-round distance against Benavidez in March 2023.
Benavidez’s Power Deficiency at 175
Based on the results, Benavidez comes up short, but Plant says he doesn’t know who would win if he fought Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs). Still, it doesn’t bode well for Benavidez’s future at 175 that Canelo punches harder than him because he’s got to have better power than that if he’s going to compete against the top fighters, Artur Beterbiev, Dmitry Bivol, and Anthony Yarde.
Benavidez will have to reconsider fighting at 175 if he’s destroyed by the winner of the October 12th fight between Beterbiev and Bivol unless he wants to hang around like a vampire bat, waiting for them to retire or age more. With a good nutritionist, Benavidez can safely return to 168 and continue dominating smaller opposition with his light heavyweight size.
Benavidez lost most of the first six rounds in his fight against Plant, and the only reason he won is because Caleb gassed out in the second half of the contest.
Plant has always had limited stamina, which cost him in his fights against Benavidez and Canelo. In January 2019, he was lucky to defeat José Uzcátegui to capture the IBF super middleweight title. Plant faded down the stretch in that fight and was punished heavily by Uzcategui.
That is by far Plant’s best win in his 10-year professional career. It’s not 37-year-old Anthony Dirrell, who was well past his prime when they fought in October 2022.
Canelo Hits Harder, Benavidez Throws Better Combinations
“Canelo hits harder for one punch. He hits harder than David,” said Caleb Plant to the Fight Hub TV YouTube channel, revealing that Canelo Alvarez hits harder than David Benavidez. “David puts them together [punches] not just than Canelo but most people in boxing. David can put his hands together.
Benavidez slaps a lot with his punches and doesn’t seem to know how to throw straight punches with full force. That could be a sign of hand problems. He focuses primarily on throwing sustained combinations, and he’s been able to get away with that style due to his opponents being smaller and weaker than him.
He ran into problems when he fought Oleksandr Gvozdyk last June and was getting lit up by him when throwing combos. Benavidez took some significant shots from Gvozdyk and looked beaten up at the end of the fight.
If that had been Artur Beterbiev or David Morrell, the ‘Mexican Monster’ Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) would have been in trouble. Benavidez will have to change his fighting style to have a chance of beating the top fighters at 175.
“Both have their pros and cons. Both have underrated defense, and they’re sharp,” said Plant when asked who wins between Benavidez and Canelo. “They’re both great fighters. There’s a difference in styles, but they’re both great at what they do. With the Canelo fight, I didn’t have that good of a camp. Sometimes things don’t up like that. No excuses.”
Plant must be having poor camps every time because he gasses out when he goes past six rounds. He’s been fighting too long for this not to have been addressed by now. Staying for a year and a half won’t help Plant.
We’ll likely see him gas against Trevor McCumby in their fight next month on September 14th on the undercard of Canelo vs. Edgar Berlanga at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The WBA interim super middleweight title will be at stake for the Plant vs. McCumby fight.
“I had a pretty good camp with David. I got sick on the day of the camp, but it was a month out,’ said Plant about his fight with Benavidez. “I don’t want to blame my performance on that. It was too far out to be like, ‘Oh, I was sick,’ but it did have an effect on camp, but that’s life.
“There were things I was able to do with Canelo that I wasn’t able to do with David. I feel like Canelo has more experience and maybe a little more savvy because of the experience,” said Plant when asked who wins between Canelo and Benavidez. “I think he hits harder than David. At the same time, there are things that David does better than Canelo, as I mentioned.”
It doesn’t look like Canelo and Benavidez will ever fight, so the comparison between them is useless. Plant should be giving his thoughts on a future fight between Benavidez and Beterbiev or Bivol because that’s his direction.
“In a big fight like that, it’s a roll of the dice. There are so many variables that come into play,” said Plant, unable to pick between Canelo and Benavidez.
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