By: Hans Themistode
There’s a huge misconception going around according to Caleb Plant concerning his super middleweight showdown with David Benavidez. For years now, both fighters have spent most of their time calling each other out at every turn. However, the persistent derogatory words hurled at one another haven’t led to any signed bout agreements.
While most of the boxing world is still pissed off that their contest hasn’t come to fruition, Plant urges the public to place the blame where it rightfully belongs.
“He’s the one who keeps losing the belt,” said Plant to ThaBoxingVoice during a recent interview. “He loses the belt to cocaine, he gets it back then loses it on the scales. I’m not the hold-up.”
To Plant’s credit, the IBF belt holder is completely right. After winning the WBC super-middleweight title against Ronald Gavril in February of 2018, Benavidez was busted for cocaine use and subsequently suspended and stripped. The 24-year-old would return to the ring roughly one and a half years later, making quick work of fringe contender J’Leon Love before ultimately ripping away his lost title out of the hands of Anthony Dirrell.
A feeling of déjà appeared however, as Benavidez would have his title reign truncated yet again. This time, due to his failure to make weight in his most recent contest against Roamer Angulo.
Although Benavidez doesn’t currently hold a world title, the Phoenix native has still called for Plant to “man up” and face him in the ring. While Plant admits that he does, in fact, want to get his hands on his long-time rival, he’ll ultimately have to twiddle his thumbs and wait his turn.
“I have a mandatory and then me and Canelo are going to make that fight happen. At this point, he’s going to have to sit off to the side cause he keeps fucking up. He’s going to have to wait his turn. He’s going to have to be a good little boy and wait his turn. In life, you don’t get to just keep messing up and messing up and keep skipping the line. That’s not how it works in boxing and that’s not how it works in life.”