I always thought they were firm on ring size in the name of consistency. However, I was surprised that Nevada officials agreed to it. Benavidez should be applauded for agreeing to the unusual stipulation it says a lot about his confidence. First, the ring was a sprawling 22 feet-by-22 feet instead of the standard 20-by-20 in Nevada, as per Plant’s demand during negotiations. The Benavidez-Plant fight was frustrating in a number of respects. Ramirez objected to a 65%-35% purse split in Prograis’ favor mandated by the WBC, which does seem to be overly lopsided given Ramirez’s reputation. What’s next? He’d like to challenge WBC titleholder Regis Prograis, although he recently passed up a chance to face the champion. Ramirez (28-1, 18 KOs) has now won two consecutive fights since he lost a close decision to Josh Taylor in 2021, which cost him his two world titles. And he punctuated the strong performance by putting Commey (30-5-1, 27 KOs) down twice in the penultimate round, the second time with a vicious hook to the body that forced him to take a knee and then quit. That said, Ramirez looked sharp even though he hadn’t fought in a year, attacking Commey from the outset with passion and efficiency. The Ghanaian is 0-2-1 in his last three fights and 1-3-1 in his last five. We shouldn’t read too much into Ramirez’s 11 th-round knockout of Richard Commey on Saturday in Fresno, California, because of Commey’s limitations. And Colbert, also coming off a setback, took a step in the right direction – even if he didn’t earn it. The good news for Valenzuela (12-2, 8 KOs) is that we saw what we saw, a good performance against a good opponent. The Mexican had reason to be upset afterward, particularly because he’s now saddled with consecutive losses. That’s why I scored it 96-93 for Valenzuela, six rounds to four in his favor. However, Valenzuela kept the pressure on Colbert and seemed to land many more power punches than his opponent. Colbert rebounded from the knockdown to make the fight competitive, landing quick, accurate jabs and combinations at times. That means the judges gave Colbert six of the final nine rounds. ![]() Valenzuela won the first round, during which he put Colbert down. All three judges had the same score after the 10-round 135-pound bout, 95-94, six rounds to four for Colbert (17-1, 6 KOs). The decision wasn’t outrageous but Colbert was definitely fortunate to emerge victorious over Valenzuela on the Benavidez-Plant card. He can beat the Jose Uzcateguis and Anthony Dirrells of the world but not next-level, pound-for-pound-caliber opponents. Plant (22-2, 13 KOs) is a fine, but limited boxer with average punching power who appears to have hit a ceiling. The CompuBox numbers aren’t official but they underscore the loser’s ineffectiveness. Plant landed only 14.6% of his punches, which says something about his limitations and Benavidez defensive skills. Benavidez outlanded him by an average of 17.5-7.6 per round, including the rounds Plant won. We saw that when he fought Alvarez, who stopped him in the 11 th round. Plant simply didn’t have the wherewithal to withstand the pressure of a particularly good, powerful opponent and faded badly as the fight progressed. Team Plant couldn’t have been more optimistic halfway through the fight. Those tactics had the Tennessean leading on the scorecards after the first six rounds and in position to deliver a significant upset. ![]() Get in, get out, move the feet and hold when necessary. Frightening thought, huh?Ĭaleb Plant took a beating from David Benavidez. Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs) is a better boxer than he might seem to be and a physical freak, which might make him unstoppable. It was arguably the most impressive performance in Benavidez’s career given Plant’s ability and an indication that he is ready to face anyone, including undisputed champion Canelo Alvarez. The winner’s knockout streak ended at six but he couldn’t have been more dominating down the stretch, winning the last seven rounds on all three cards and outlanding Plant 161-46 in the last six, according to CompuBox. Benavidez continued to stalk his rival and gradually closed the distance in spite of an oversized ring, which allowed him to begin landing an assortment of damaging blows that broke down Plant and resulted in a unanimous decision victory Saturday at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Caleb Plant was effective early, sticking, moving, holding, doing whatever it took to blunt Benavidez attack and land enough punches to win rounds. Benavidez was Benavidez in the end, a dogged, merciless hunter who almost always bags his prey.
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