By: Sean Crose
“This is a fight I’ve been waiting for my whole life,” David Benavidez says in an interview with ESNews, “this is a step into the pay per view. I definitely want to leave a good impression and I want to leave my mark.” This weekend, the former world titlist will face fellow former world titlist Caleb Plant in a super middleweight pay per view main event. Canelo Alvarez may be the undisputed divisional champion, but both Benavidez and Plant are chomping at the bit.
“I want to get a knockout,” says Benavidez. “I’m on a six bout knockout street.” Knocking out Plant, who has only lost once and that was to a prime Canelo (in a decent fight) would be quite impressive for the undefeated Benavidez. The man has power, sure, but he’s never gone up against the extremely skilled Plant before. To perhaps make things even more intriguing heading into this weekend’s fight, there’s genuine dislike to be found between Benavidez and his opponent.
“I just don’t like him,” Benavidez says. “There’s a lot of people I just don’t like.” And, as far as Benavidez is concerned, it doesn’t go any deeper than that. “We just don’t like each other,” he says. “It’s a simple as that.” Fair enough – but how does Benavidez feel the fight will turn out? “I’m going to knock his ass out,” he says. “I have more knockouts than him. I have a better gas tank than him…I throw more than him. I land at a higher percentage than him.”
As for those who feel Plant is simply too good for him, Benavidez sees their opinions as sources of motivation. “I use that as fuel,” he says. “Everybody’s true colors come out once these type of fights come in.” Not that he sees Plant as an easy night’s work. “Everything has to come out the arsenal,” he says of fight night. “I’m going to have to use everything to really get this guy out of there.” With that being said, Benavidez oozes confidence throughout the interview. “I have the speed,” he says, “I have the power. I have the range. I have the way to put it together…Caleb Plant, he’s definitely going to push me, to bring it out of me.”
“This,” he says of Saturday’s pay per view main event in Las Vegas, “is going to be the best performance of my career so far.”
