Boxing Fight Night : David Benavidez vs Caleb Plant - Date, Time, Ticket, How To Watch

Many of the elements of the most compelling fights will be present on Saturday night when David Benavidez and Caleb Plant clash in a Showtime pay-per-view main event. The style matchup promises fun action, the two men have grown an increasingly strong dislike for each other and the opponent poses several interesting questions for both men.

Benavidez is facing by far the best opponent of his career in Plant, a slick boxer with higher-level skills than any of Benavidez's previous foes. Benavidez will be forced to see if his pressure-first style can get to -- and break down -- a fighter who has made his living by not often being there to be hit.

To date, Benavidez has been perfect in his career, with 26 wins in 26 trips to the ring, 23 of those coming by knockout. His worst opponent has been himself, twice losing world titles because of his own missteps. First, Benavidez was stripped of the WBC super middleweight championship in 2018 after testing positive for cocaine. After regaining the title, he was stripped again after failing to make weight for his August 2020 fight with Roamer Alexis Angulo.

Plant has been in with one truly great fighter in his professional campaign, giving a good effort in November 2021 against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez before being stopped in the 11th round. Benavidez and Alvarez are not carbon copies of each other, but like Alvarez, Benavidez will force Plant to try and navigate the space between defensive slickness and planting his feet to exchange punches.

The loss to Alvarez is Plant's lone career defeat and he rebounded this past October with a stunningly brutal knockout of Anthony Dirrell, which was the single biggest display of power Plant has ever shown.

"I worked extremely hard for this fight," Plant said. "I'm ready. And somebody you know let me know [you're] already on weight. Right? But that don't mean shit to me. I don't care if you're already on weight. That's not bragging rights. I brought my mouthpiece and my cup this week, but I don't need a pat on the back for it. That's what you're supposed to do.

"You're supposed to be on weight. So welcome to the club. And you've got your newfound muscles you've been showing off all week. Welcome to the club. That's what happens when you work hard."

The undercard fills out with some fun matchups hardcore fans will be excited about. Jesus Ramos is set to return against Joey Spencer in a super welterweight contest. Former interim titleholder Chris Colbert is back in his first bout at lightweight when he takes on Jose Valenzuela. Colbert is coming off a stunning loss to Hector Luis Garcia in his last outing -- the first loss of his career -- where he was also dropped late.

Prediction

There's no real mystery on either man's path to victory. Benavidez is a pressure fighter who wants to walk his opponents down while utilizing his hand speed to crack with jabs and crisp lead right hands while also letting combinations go when he's in range, and he has the power to hurt anyone in the division. For Plant, it's about using his footwork to not allow Benavidez to cut off the ring, landing his own shots and resetting the chase once again.

Plant showed off his power against Dirrell, but that's not a true part of his offense and engaging in a toe-to-toe firefight with Benavidez is a recipe for a very short night for Plant. If Plant can instead move consistently and keep Benavidez off of him, he has solid potential to score the upset and derail hopes of a long-awaited clash between Benavidez and Alvarez.

"So, let me tell you something about that. There were three of us there and he tried to sucker punch my brother," Benavidez said. "He slapped him and then he hid behind his trainer. My guys took care of his trainer and beat up his trainer. What would've happened if all of us would've jumped Caleb Plant? We would've put him in the hospital. What would he have said now?

"If we really wanted to, we could've put that little boy in the hospital but we didn't because I already know the game that Caleb Plant is trying to play. After that happened, Caleb Plant went on a big ass rant about, 'I can't believe the father would let people come up to us and record that.' That's what I'm talking about. Caleb Plant is fake. He acts like he's a freaking gangster but he's not. At the end of the day, he's a little kid."