LOS ANGELES – Now that he has regained the WBC super middleweight title, David Benavidez can get back to the type of business that awaited him before his cocaine ordeal last year.
Jose Benavidez Sr., his father and trainer, hopes a title unification fight against IBF champ Caleb Plant is next for his unbeaten son. The elder Benavidez discussed that fight following David Benavidez’s ninth-round knockout of Anthony Dirrell on Saturday night at Staples Center.
“I just wanna make it clear – we wanna fight the best, with the belt or without the belt,” Jose Benavidez Sr. said during their post-fight press conference. “There’s a guy that calls himself the best, that was sent from God or whatever, Caleb Plant. That’s the fight we wanna make. You know, the people was asking for that fight with belts, with [a] belt or no belts.
“Now [David is] a champion. I don’t know what [Plant is] gonna say. Every time you ask him, he says, ‘Is he a champ? Is he a champ? Who has he fought?’ I mean other champions, you know? But that’s the fight we wanna get, Caleb Plant.”
Plant (19-0, 11 KOs), of Ashland City, Tennessee, and David Benavidez have talked trash to one another in recent months, but Benavidez (22-0, 19 KOs) seemed open to other fights after defeating Dirrell. The WBC has mandated that the 22-year-old Phoenix native must face Avni Yildirim, the sanctioning organization’s No. 1 challenger at 168 pounds.
Turkey’s Yildirim (21-2, 12 KOs) lost a technical decision to Dirrell when they fought February 23 for the title that was stripped from Benavidez about a year ago. The Dirrell-Yildirim fight was very competitive before a cut over Dirrell’s left eye caused referee Mark Nelson to stop their scheduled 12-rounder in the 10th round at The Armory in Minneapolis.
Dirrell (33-2-1, 24 KOs), of Flint, Michigan, was ahead on two of the three scorecards when their fight ended (96-94, 96-94, 92-98). Yildirim told BoxingScene.com following Benavidez’s victory that he expects to box Benavidez next, sometime early in 2020 (https://www.boxingscene.com/yildrim-benavidez-brave-fighter-not-very-skilled-boxer--142976).
“It doesn’t matter who is next,” Benavidez said. “My job is to defend my titles and become the best 168-pounder in the world. And we’re gonna do that. That’s exactly what we’re gonna do.”
A unification fight with Plant probably would be allowed before a mandatory defense versus Yildirim, but Benavidez isn’t sure what’s next.
“Whoever it is, my job as world champion is to defend my title [against] anybody,” Benavidez said. “If it’s Caleb Plant, if it’s another dude, another guy, it just doesn’t matter. My job is to train to be the best I can be, and defend my title and beat everybody.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.