Jermell Charlo Picks Plant To Win, Calls Benavidez 'One-Dimensional'
BY
SEAN NAM
Published Tue Mar 21, 2023, 08:23 AM EDT
Jermell Charlo knows who he is siding with in one of the most intriguing super middleweights on the boxing schedule.
Top super middleweights Caleb Plant, Ashland, Tennessee, and David Benavidez, Phoenix, Arizona, will meet in the ring for a 12-round, 168-pound bout on March 25 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Showtime Pay-Per-View. The fight matches two of the best fighters in the division in what figures to be an engaging clash of styles: the volume punching, come-forward modus operandi of Benavidez, against the technical prowess of Plant.
Recently, Charlo, the undisputed 154-pound champion, weighed in on the match-up, saying he gives Plant the edge and noting that Benavidez is “one-dimensional.”
“Y’all already know, look, I’m rockin’ with Plant,” Charlo said in a video posted by StageFrontVIP. “Plant’s got the boxing skills, Benavidez [is] just one-dimensional.
“He gonna come forward and he gonna put a lot of pressure, but y’all know—hey, styles make fights, and so it’s gonna be a good one. But y’all know I’m rockin’ with Plant.”
The press conference to announce Plant-Benavidez last month set a fervid tone to their fight, with both fighters trying to get under the other’s skin. Benavidez, 26, was far more demonstrative, wasting no time expressing his animosity for Plant, 30.
Plant (22-1, 13 KOs) is coming off a one-punch knockout victory of Anthony Dirrell last October at Barclays Arena in Brooklyn, New York, his first fight since suffering an 11th-round stoppage to Canelo Alvarez in their 168-pound undisputed title fight in November 2011 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) last fought in May against David Lemieux, stopping the French Canadian in three rounds at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
Houston’s Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) is recovering from a broken hand that derailed his scheduled fight with Australia’s Tim Tszyu. The two are expected to face each other later this year. Tszyu created more momentum for that fight with his performance last weekend, a ninth-round stoppage of Tony Harrison inside nine rounds in his hometown of Sydney. Harrison is the only fighter to have recorded a win over Charlo.