Undefeated former two-time WBC super-middleweight champion David Benavidez defeated former IBF super-middleweight champion Caleb Plant in a 12-round super-middleweight bout. From MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Benavidez inflicted a ton of damage over the course of 12 rounds to end the bitter rivalry with Plant. , Benavidez had his hand raised by unanimous decision, taking home bragging rights and his WBC interim super middleweight championship.
Plant may have actually escaped being finished in that round thanks to help from referee Kenny Bayless, who was a source of controversy for most of the fight, issuing several warnings to Benavidez while never warning Plant for excessive clinching.
With Plant hurt and Benavidez looking for the finish, Bayless halted the action to allow the referee to check a cut over Plant’s eye that was the result of an accidental clash of heads. Given the extra few moments, Plant was able to survive the round, but he never truly got back into the fight.
Once Benavidez took over the fight, he didn’t look back, piling up round after round and forcing Plant to be almost totally defensive, leading to final punch stats that saw him land 210 shots to just 91 for Plant.
The fighters embraced several times after the fight, also visiting each other’s corners. It was a surprising development given both men said ahead of the fight that there was no chance they’d so much as shake hands after the fight. Will we now see a Canelo vs Benavidez bout now? Canelo knocked out Plant but it was a unanimous decision that gave Benavidez victory over Plant. The fight however has forced a mandatory fight between Benavidez and Canelo now.
The other fight card results of the night are Jesus Ramos def. Joey Spencer via seventh-round TKO.
Chris Colbert def. Jose Valenzuela via unanimous decision.
Cody Crowley def. Abel Ramos via majority decision.
The boxing schedule for the month of April is as follows:
April 1: Tusla, Oklahoma (7 p.m., Watch on ESPN+)
Title fight: Robeisy Ramirez vs. Isaac Dogboe, 12 rounds, for the WBO vacant featherweight title
Joet Gonzalez vs. Jose Enrique Vivas, 10 rounds, featherweights
Tiger Johnson vs. Alfonso Olvera, 8 rounds, junior welterweights
Jahi Tucker vs. Nikoloz Sekhniashvili, 8 rounds, welterweights
Jeremiah Milton vs. TBA, 6 rounds, heavyweights
Abdullah Mason vs. TBA, 6 rounds, lightweights
Dante Benjamin Jr. vs. Jasper McCargo, 6 rounds, light heavyweights
Emiliano Vargas vs. Edgar Uvalle, 4 rounds, lightweights
Rohan Polanco vs. Ricardo Quiroz, 6 rounds, junior welterweights
April 1: London (DAZN)
Anthony Joshua vs. Jermaine Franklin, 12 rounds, heavyweights
Matteo Signani vs. Felix Cash, 12 rounds, middleweights
Austin Williams vs. River Wilson-Bent, 10 rounds, middleweights
Fabio Wardley vs. Michael Coffie, 10 rounds, heavyweights
Campbell Hatton vs. Louis Fielding, 8 rounds, lightweights
Jordan Flynn vs. Kane Baker, 8 rounds, junior lightweights
John Hedges vs. Daniel Bocianski, 8 rounds, light heavyweights
Peter Kadiru vs. TBA, 6 rounds, heavyweights
Juergen Uldedaj vs. TBA, 6 rounds, cruiserweights
Ziyad Almaayouf vs. TBA, 4 rounds, junior welterweights
April 8: Newark, New Jersey (ESPN/ESPN+)
Shakur Stevenson vs. Shuichiro Yoshino, 12 rounds, WBC lightweight title eliminator
Keyshawn Davis vs. Anthony Yigit, 10 rounds, lightweights
Jared Anderson vs. George Arias, 10 rounds, heavyweights
Damian Knyba vs. TBA, 8 rounds, heavyweights
Duke Ragan vs. TBA, 8 rounds, junior featherweights
Troy Isley vs. TBA, 8 rounds, junior middleweights
Kelvin Davis vs. TBA, 6 rounds, junior welterweights
April 8: Tokyo (ESPN+)
Title fight: Kenshiro Teraji vs. Jonathan Gonzalez, 12 rounds, for Teraji’s WBC and WBA junior flyweight titles and Gonzalez’s WBO junior flyweight title
Title fight: Takuma Inoue vs. Liborio Solis, 12 rounds, for the vacant WBA bantamweight title
Jin Sasaki vs. Keita Obara, 12 rounds, welterweights
Kiko Martinez vs. Reiya Abe, 12 rounds, featherweights
Tenshin Nasukawa vs. Yuki Yonaha, 6 rounds, junior featherweights.
April 8: Newark, New Jersey (ESPN/ESPN+):
Shakur Stevenson vs. Shuichiro Yoshino, 12 rounds, WBC lightweight title eliminator
Keyshawn Davis vs. Anthony Yigit, 10 rounds, lightweights
Jared Anderson vs. George Arias, 10 rounds, heavyweights
Damian Knyba vs. TBA, 8 rounds, heavyweights
Duke Ragan vs. TBA, 8 rounds, junior featherweights
Troy Isley vs. TBA, 8 rounds, junior middleweights
Kelvin Davis vs. TBA, 6 rounds, junior welterweights
April 8: Tokyo (ESPN+)
Title fight: Kenshiro Teraji vs. Jonathan Gonzalez, 12 rounds, for Taraji’s WBC and WBA junior flyweight titles and Gonzalez’s WBO junior flyweight title
Title fight: Takuma Inoue vs. Liborio Solis, 12 rounds, for the vacant WBA bantamweight title
Jin Sasaki vs. Keita Obara, 12 rounds, welterweights
Kiko Martinez vs. Reiya Abe, 12 rounds, featherweights
Tenshin Nasukawa vs. Yuki Yonaha, 6 rounds, junior featherweights
April 8: San Antonio, Texas (DAZN)
Title fight: Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez vs. Cristian Gonzalez, 12 rounds, for the WBO vacant flyweight title
Title fight: Murodjon Akhmadaliev vs. Marlon Tapales, 12 rounds, for Akhmadaliev’s WBA and IBF junior featherweight titles
Raymond Ford vs. Jessie Magdaleno, 10 rounds, featherweights
Thomas Mattice vs. Ramiro Cesena, 10 rounds, junior lightweights
Galal Yafai vs. Moises Calleros, 10 rounds, flyweights
Israil Madrimov vs. Raphael Igbokwe, 10 rounds, middleweights
Marc Castro vs. Ricardo Lopez, 8 rounds, lightweights
Khalil Coe vs. Aaron Casper, 6 rounds, light heavyweights
Jesus Martinez vs. Jose Lopez, 4 rounds, junior featherweights
April 8: Carson, California (Showtime)
Title fight: Sebastian Fundora vs. Brian Mendoza, 12 rounds, for Fundora’s WBC interim junior middleweight title
Brandun Lee vs. Pedro Campa, 10 rounds, junior welterweights
Luis Nunez vs. Christian Olivo, 8 rounds, featherweights
April 15: London (ESPN+)
Joe Joyce vs. Zhilei Zhang, 12 rounds, heavyweights
Mikaela Mayer vs. Christina Linardatou, 10 rounds, women’s lightweights
Denzel Bentley vs. Kieran Smith, 12 rounds, middleweights
Dennis McCann vs. TBA, 12 rounds, junior featherweights
Sam Noakes vs. TBA, 6 rounds, lightweights
Sonny Ali vs. TBA, 4 rounds, junior welterweights
Joel Kodua vs. TBA, 4 rounds, junior middleweights
April 22: Las Vegas (Showtime PPV)
Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia, 12 rounds, 136-pound catchweight
April 22: Cardiff, Wales (DAZN)
Title fight: Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov vs. Joe Cordina, 12 rounds, for Rakhimov’s IBF junior lightweight title
Gavin Gwynne vs. Craig Woodruff, 12 rounds, lightweights
Title fight: Sandy Ryan vs. Marie-Pier Houle, 10 rounds, for the vacant WBO women’s welterweight title
Jordan Thompson vs. Luke Watkins, 10 rounds, cruiserweights
Gavin Gwynne vs. Craig Woodruff, 12 rounds, for Gwynne’s British lightweight title
Zelfa Barrett vs. Alex Dilmaghani, 12 rounds, junior lightweights
Sammy Lee vs. TBA, 6 rounds, light heavyweights
Miles Gordon-Darby vs. TBA, 4 rounds, heavyweights
Brandon Scott vs. TBA, 4 rounds, featherweights
April 29: Arlington, Texas
Eimantas Stanionis vs. Vergil Ortiz Jr., 12 rounds, welterweights
