Of course the end goal for Caleb Plant, according to him, is a rematch with the opponent that removed a zero from his record but added a couple of zeros to his bank account — Canelo Alvarez. But the road back to Canelo would entail some impressive wins in the super middleweight division. I believe that journey should begin with a fight against Jermall Charlo who was sitting ringside when Plant stopped Anthony Dirrell in the ninth round with a single punch.
Jermall Charlo
Plant pitched a shutout, winning every round before the knockout (of Dirrell), and reintroduced himself to the fans and the division. With Plant packing a bigger punch nowadays, according to his new trainer Stephen Edwards, it makes the matchup with Charlo more enticing. Edwards believes Charlo is a harder puncher than Benavidez but has full faith in his fighter’s abilities. It’s a dangerous fight for Plant but pure boxers are known to be trouble for all styles.
David Benavidez
If Caleb is able to get past Charlo, then the obvious next step would be David Benavidez, another undefeated fighter that even without a belt sits at the top of the division. It would be a battle of hand speed and heart, which both have shown a great deal of. Plant just fought one of David’s leftovers and David is potentially about to fight one of Plant’s leftovers, (Jose) Uzcategui, which is like watching the layup line before the big game.
These two have genuine beef which has led to gym confrontations and Internet jabs. The buildup would be authentically spicy as neither one of them ever holds their tongue when the opportunity arises to say something bad about the other. It’s a fight that the city of Las Vegas would welcome with Plant being a longtime resident and Benavidez proudly representing the neighboring city of Phoenix. It would be very interesting to see if Plant would commit to power punches against a fighter that has a six-fight KO streak and throws 8-10 rapid-punch combinations.
Canelo Alvarez
Lastly, a win against Benavidez and Charlo should warrant another chance at the top of the mountain with Canelo Alvarez. With the success that Plant had in their first encounter, it’s conceivable that a little tweaking mixed with a new head coach can possibly produce an outcome in his favor.