David Benavidez W12 Caleb Plant... After a few close rounds, David Benavidez turned up the heat over the second half a super middleweight fight to soundly defeat Caleb Plant by unanimous decision. Benavidez won the battle of former champions by official scores of 115-113, 116-112 and 117-111. He more than doubled Plant in terms of punches landed, 210 to 91 according to Punchstats. With the win in Las Vegas, Benavidez retains the WBC interim title and, more importantly, emerged as the clear #1 contender for undisputed world champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez. Hopefully, that fight can be made in the fall.

 

Referee Kenny Bayless was, unfortunately, a big part of the fight. He allowed Plant to do a ridiculous amount of holding. A headbutt opened up a cut on Plant's forehead.  Bayless then gave Plant a long breather when he interrupted a favorable sequence for Benavidez in order to have Plant's cut inspected by a doctor. By the eleventh round, things took a savage turn, with Benavidez pummeling a bloodied and exhausted Plant, who could do little except hold. In the waning seconds of round twelve, Plant showed amazing courage, coming forward and landing a few punches despite his poor condition. Plant said afterwards Benavidez was the better man on the night. Despite some nasty pre-fight insults, Benavidez and Plant embraced and ended their feud before leaving the ring.