Saturday, March 25th, Showtime PPV | 6 PM, Prelims on YouTube prior.

On Saturday, a major pay-per-view match will occur as David Benavidez will face Caleb Plant, for Benavidez’s WBC interim super middleweight title, with the winner being mandatory for Canelo Alvarez. A lot is at stake, so let’s go through it right now

For starters, this is Benavidez’s chance at stardom. As a young champion, Benavidez tested positive for cocaine and lost his world title, and then lost his belt a second time due to a scale fail, in which he missed weight. Benavidez has taken a long road to a pay-per-view main event, and a lot of the blame falls on his shoulders. 

Now Benavidez is the lead act facing not just a rival, but a spiritual opposite. While Benavidez is a stoic, sincere and sometimes scary imposing force, Caleb Plant is a brash trash-talker who almost views himself as the superhero in his own movie. While Benavidez wants to be feared, Plant seems to love being doubted, and thus the two seemingly could never be friends. 

Plant resurrected his career after a stoppage loss to Canelo Alvarez, in which, he knocked out Anthony Dirrell. The KO gave Plant new life to his career, and added excitement as Benavidez is one of the most dominant punchers of his era, and of his weight class. 

Benavidez’s pressure is so fierce that Mike Tyson nicknamed him “The Mexican Monster”. 

What is at stake in this fight beyond bragging rights…well – the winner should be a certified pay-per-view on a high-level main event attraction, as even if Canelo Alvarez doesn’t fight the winner, fights with Jermall Charlo, Demetrius Andrade, and David Morrell all seem possible. 

“Some people don’t understand that I’m the most accurate puncher in this weight class. I’ve had 23 knockouts in 26 fights. I’ve hurt every man I’ve been in the ring with and Caleb Plant is no different,” said Benavidez at his media day for this event. “Emotion, especially anger, is a great motivator to train. The people who are telling me not to be emotional, haven’t laced up the gloves before. I couldn’t be more ready. I leave all my emotions outside of the ring when it’s time to go to work.”

“I feel really good. Last camp we brought in ‘Breadman’ and we had a lot of great chemistry with the whole team. He’s easy to get along with and he just expects me to work hard. That’s right up our alley and that’s what we like to do. He brought some of that Philly grit with him and helped reiterate a lot of things that my dad [co-trainer Richie Plant] had been trying to instill in me,” said Plant. “My power has always been there but I’ve been getting more back to my roots. ‘Breadman’ and my dad have a lot of similarities in how they want me to box and train. With some of it, I’m getting back to my old ways, but it’s combined with the new things that ‘Breadman’ is bringing to the table and teaching me.”

PPV Undercard.

The co-feature is a very good one, and I did an exclusive interview with Jesus Ramos Jr., on ProBox News (which you can read here) as he faces fellow unbeaten 22-year-old, Joey Spencer in a ten-round 154 lbs fight. Ramos Jr., feels that Joey Spencer and his team believe they saw something in his last fight with Luke Santamaria, and he is out to prove them wrong. I believe Spencer will also fight better with better competition as this could steal the show.

A great lightweight bout between Chris Colbert and Jose “El Rayo” Valenzuela will see two potential stars in the PBC universe, who both are coming unexpected losses. “Rayo” was knocked out by Edwin De Los Santos, and Colbert lost a one-sided decision to Hector Luis Garcia. Garcia started the year off with a Gervonta Davis pay-per-view fight, and it is hard to not think Colbert is thinking that he should’ve been in that spot. The loser of this fight falls way back in the division, as Colbert is taking a huge risk fighting at lightweight, the weight Valenzuela is most comfortable at. 

The opener of the pay-per-view card will see Cody Crowley, a fun and forgotten fighter in the welterweight division, taking on Jesus Ramos Jr.’s uncle, Abel Ramos. The fight scheduled for 12-round is a WBC welterweight eliminator meaning the winner would face in theory, Errol Spence Jr., but in reality, more than likely the winner will face the winner of Yordenis Ugas vs. Mario Barrios in the fall. Good action fight.

Off-TV

Kevin Gonzalez, a solid lower-weight fighter will be featured on the undercard, and an interesting 140 lber Orestes Velasquez who holds a win over Abram Martinez will also be a notable in-action as well, which will be featured on Sports YouTube prelims. 

My sleeper favorite fight of the night will be between Demler “D.J.” Zamora taking on Jesus Abel Ibarra, in a 130 lbs., eight-round bout that pits two undefeated fighters against each other. The winner of this fight will get a chance to get some decent fights in the not too distant future. 

A stablemate of David Benavidez, Daniel Blancas, a super middleweight managed by Tim VanNewhouse will be featured on this card as a he fought less than a month ago, and will return quickly. 

A friend of the program, Robert Meriwether III will open the card or be one of the first fights on the card. People view him as having a very high ceiling in terms of his potential as a professional fighter. 

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I will be live on site as of Wednesday providing coverage for ITRBoxing and ProBoxNews, as Jose Ramirez will face Richard Commey in 140 lbs bout. The big story is this might be one of Ramirez’s last fights if not the last. Commey is a game veteran, one who is a respected veteran who is being slept on since the fans were hoping to see Regis Prograis defend his WBC 140 lbs title against Jose Ramirez. 

Most of the boxing world will be watching the marque pay-per-view, but this will be a quality card, and beyond that, if you like my content, I will overload you with a ton of stuff starting tomorrow evening, west coast time. 

undercard.

One of the best fighters in the world, Seniesa Estrada will take on Tina Rupprecht, a world champion in her own right and one of two women to defeat Estrada’s rival, Yoka Valle. The WBA and WBC women’s strawweight unification bout should be a platform for Estrada to display a lot of her generational talents and gifts. 

The winner of the 2020 Olympic Trials at super heavyweight Antonio Mireles will open the ESPN against Patrick Mailata. Mireles trains with Robert Garcia and is a huge heavyweight, who should be in some notable fights in his career. I remember I once saw him wearing a Crossfit shirt at the DoubleTree Hotel in Fresno, California, seemingly whenever I saw him, at one event. This a moment for him to make a name for himself, and maybe even build toward a future Richard Torrez Jr. fight. 

ESPN+ Notables

Lightweight Raymond “Danger” Muratalla, has been praised as a future world champion and will face Humberto Galindo in a ten-round fight. Muratalla is in the talent-rich division of lightweight with tons of high-profile names. Given that he is a ten-round fighter, an impressive win here could put him in line for a chance at a big opportunity. 

My favorite fight on the card is San Francisco, Ca’s Charlie Sheehy (who I wrote about here) facing Angel Rebollar in Sheehy’s first six-round bout against Rebollar, who just beat Sheehy’s sparring partner for this fight, Justin Cardona, in a very exciting bout. This is a real test early in a career of Sheehy. 

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Mbilli, The World Title Contender.

Christian Mbilli looks the part of a world-class fighter and now he has to face everyone’s favorite spoiler, Carlos Gongora in a ten-round super middleweight main event, on ESPN+, Thursday. An interesting match-up that is well under the radar, but could be the best of the week. Gongora might be a bit overrated by the most hardcore of fans, and Mbilli has a case for being the sixth-best super middleweight in the world currently. 

This fight will create a contender and might see the ascent of Mbilli to contender status. 

notable undercard bouts.

Veteran 140 lbs fighter Steve Claggett will be on this card as well. 

Mary Spencer was scheduled to fight on this card but has had to withdraw with an injury. 

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This Wednesday ProBoxTV.com will return with an interesting bout that reminds me of what we used to get on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights, with Angel Vazquez taking on Mohamed Soumaoro in an eight-round fight. Soumaoro upset Jusiyah Shirley in his last fight and will have a chance to do it again, as he faces a pressure fighter in Vazquez. 

Dominique Valle, who is a male model/boxer will face Carlos Rosario in a 130 lbs bout. Rosario recently lost for the first time, so this will be the first real test for Valle.

Omar Rosario, who was with Top Rank Inc. at one point in time, will be featured on this card. Rosario is a high-upside guy, who could be a hidden gem.

The fight I am most excited about is Demontaze “Juicy” Duncan facing Axl Melendez in a welterweight TV opener. Duncan, whom I wrote bout on ProBoxNews this week, has a great story and is looking to repeat coming out of nowhere and becoming an overnight success story, as he did before in the amateurs. 

This is a card to watch.

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Lawrence Okolie will make a defense of his WBO cruiserweight title against David Light, on Saturday, as Light defeated Brandon Glanton, on a ProBox TV card in December. Okolie is not the most exciting fighter to watch, but he is certainly good at what he does. Okolie is now with Boxxer, and Sky Sports, so that is a storyline for this bout as well.

undercard.

Frazer Clarke will fight Bogdan Dinu, who is taking this fight on late notice, after Rydell Booker withdrew. 

2020 Olympian Karriss Artingstall will be featured in the six-round fight, and former Golden Boy Promotions prospect, Aaron McKenna, who seemingly disappeared from the telecast after COVID-19, will find himself on this card.

Lyndon Arthur will face Braian Nahuel Suarez, in an interesting light heavyweight contest with the winner having title implications down the line.

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On DAZN, Saturday night, Jose Zepeda will face the rather unassuming Neeraj Goyat, 140 lbs, get right bout, after losing to Regis Prograis. Zepeda will be fighting on what is promoted as a Golden Boy Promotions card.

The co-main event will see the return of Carlos Ocampo, at 154 lbs. 

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The other champion at strawweight Yokasta Valle will face Jessica Basulto, putting her two titles on the line. This fight appears to be on BLK Prime, but I have not gotten any word about it, at all.