Canelo next for Benavidez after Plant pounding
Plus, Colbert grabs a gift while Okolie grabs his opponent
There's only one man David Benavidez should be fighting next: Canelo Alvarez, in an all-Mexican affair between two of the top super-middleweights. Canelo had already knocked out Caleb Plant to unify the entire 168-pound weight class before Benavidez defeated the same man on points last weekend.
The stars have now aligned. Provided Canelo gets past John Ryder in May (which is pretty much a formality) there should only be one fight left to make.
However, as you well know, dear reader, boxing is never quite as simple as that. Canelo has already made it known that once he deals with Ryder he intends to rematch Dmitry Bivol, who caused a seismic upset by defeating the pound-for-pound star last year. Forget the narrow nature of the ridiculous scorecards, that fight was a one-sided affair.
Bivol didn’t just outpoint the fight favourite, he dominated him. What we all want is for Bivol to take his WBA (Super) light-heavyweight strap and unify it against fellow Russian Artur Beterbiev who holds the IBF, WBO and WBC versions.
Pretty simple stuff. Let Canelo go over to the PBC and tackle Benavidez and the winner can fight Jermall Charlo, once he returns to civilization. If Benavidez doesn’t get Canelo then a fight with Cuba's David Morrell would be a nice little scrap to keep us going in the meantime.
After his win over ‘Sweethands’ Plant in Las Vegas, Benavidez restrained from truly calling out Canelo in a direct, aggressive fashion. But it’s becoming an unavoidable clash of the titans.
In his huge coming out party on Showtime Pay-Per-View, Benavidez understandably looked a little nervous in the opener. Reaching in at times and biting on every feint Caleb Plant threw, Benavidez, who often starts slowly, offered tentative swings without establishing his powerful jab. While Plant undoubtedly bossed the early exchanges, David’s brute strength and freshness started to gradually show through.
The cut didn’t help Plant and towards the end he was holding on a lot, which was inadequately dealt with by fiddly ref Kenny Bayless. Benavidez is huge for the weight and as he gets older the Arizonan will inevitably look north to tangle with the beasts at 175 pounds.
While his trademark explosive hand speed was missing (mostly due to Plant’s clever early movement and ability to reset the action at key moments) David is a good boxer with the size and power to trouble anyone he meets. More than that, with fan pressure building he is fast becoming a problem that Canelo simply cannot continue to ignore.
The story of the undercard was Chris Colbert’s controversial unanimous decision victory over Jose Valenzuela. Both men’s careers were on the line so it is a shame that the ending wasn't more conclusive. Colbert seemed to be hurt on more than one occasion and was dropped early on.
His left eye closed up and the Brooklyn man was struggling to survive. The three judges saw it differently, all totalling 95-94 in his favour. Even Showtime interviewer Jim Gray voiced his distaste at the decision after talking to the loser.
That said, some felt that in between getting knocked about, Colbert was boxing clever and landing some key blows. Was the decision really as terrible as we first thought? Perhaps a rematch is in order, giving Valenzuela the chance at revenge.
As for Colbert, he’s pretty brave but takes a lot of flush, heavy shots, making him too vulnerable to trouble the top guys. Even if he were to win a rematch it’s hard to see where he eventually ends up.
As soon as the first bell went and I looked at Joey Spencer and Jesus Ramos sizing each other up in the centre ring I knew I’d got this attractive battle of unbeatens badly wrong. Spencer looked tiny compared to his opponent.
I’d been a fan of Ramos on his way up and conventional wisdom said he would win but he didn’t look amazing against Luke Santamaria. Conversely, Spencer looked great against Kevin Salgado so…
Spencer got dropped with a short left hand at the end of the first round as Ramos scythed home hooks from both hands. By the fifth, Spencer was just outgunned and it was starting to look uncomfortable. Only his toughness remained. Mercifully the young Michigan man’s father pulled him out for another day’s fighting. Ramos moves on towards a world title shot.
Poor Joey Spencer (above right, obviously) took a beating - photo credit: Ring Magazine
In the first of four excellent fights, Cody Crowley offered another high activity display. Opponent Abel Ramos loses most of the big ones these days and he was swimming upstream against a very active opponent who enjoys setting a harsh pace. Crowley does have his faults, like leaning over the front knee at times, pawing the jab.
While a good, sharp fighter would probably pick him off with shots, Abel Ramos is not that guy. Interestingly, the lesser spotted TV replay was used after Crowley was supposedly dropped late on.
It was clear that his gloves had not touched the canvas and the call was reneged. Unlike the farcical VAR process of Premier League football (or soccer if you prefer) the decision was made swiftly and correctly.
OKOLIE FIGHTS ARE LIGHT ON ENTERTAINMENT
How do you solve a problem like Lawrence Okolie? A former Olympian now holding a world title, in fine physical shape, with plenty of business acumen away from the ring. On the face of it he would seem to have it all.
However, despite the presence of an assembled cast of well-dressed Sky Sports cheerleaders, eager to convince us that we are being constantly entertained, what Okolie brings to the table just isn’t exciting.
In some quarters, the old “hit and don’t get hit” philosophy rules the roost, and there is some merit in watching scholars of the sweet science ply their trade. But Okolie’s style is more “jab, grab, bear hug and don’t get hit” as he uses his attributes to great effect.
It appeared in the initial stages of his partnership with Shane McGuigan that ‘The Sauce’ was ready to ditch the Henry Akinwande impersonations that had created such dire spectacles as the Isaac Chamberlain and Matty Askin encounters.
Rival Opetaia was unimpressed with Okolie - photo credit: BBC
Okolie 2.0 was planting his feet more. Extending his rangy jab. Creating gaps for the big right hand to come out. The holding and grappling option remained, if needed, but a more offensive approach was taking root.
Saturday night’s WBO cruiserweight title defence showed that old habits die hard. Implored by Sugar Hill to do this, that and the other, Okolie proceeded to just box his own way.
New Zealand challenger David Light managed to last the 12 rounds and did his reputation no harm. The 31-year-old was unable to cause any significant damage. Okolie needs a highly-skilled dance partner capable of getting in behind the tentacles while forcing Lawrence to engage.
Aussie IBF champ Jai Opetaia showed against Mairis Briedis that he may be that man. Once Opetaia recovers from injuries sustained in his title winning effort then hopefully a unification with Okolie can be made.
NUTHOUSE NOTES
I’m really enjoying the Canadian cards that have been taking place on Thursday evenings. Last week Jean Pascal boxed Michael Eifert and recently Erik Bazinyan had a rough-and-tumble scrap with Alantez Fox.
The names may not always be household but there is a tasty blend of credible headliners, up-and-coming prospects, female bouts (if you’re that way inclined) and some well-matched brawlers.
The latest installment saw Christian Mbilli box Carlos Gongora over 10 rounds. Originally from Cameroon, Mbilli has found a home in Montreal for his talents and steadily climbed the rankings with some impressive wins over former contenders.
Mbilli is all action - photo credit: Le Droit/Eye of the Tiger
Gongora’s claim to fame was a dramatic last-round KO of favoured Kazakh Ali Akhmedov. Southpaw Gongora was later beaten by Lerrone Richards in 2021 but styles make fights and Richards will be a tough Rubik’s cube for anyone to solve.
Even though Gongora showed late fight prowess against Akhmedov, he was clinging on for dear life at the end of this one. Another minute and Mbilli would’ve stopped the exhausted visitor.
Not without his own flaws, Mbilli was repeatedly buzzed from uppercuts, especially in round eight. His vulnerabilities, mixed with a desire to entertain, will make for exciting fights as the 27-year-old journeys towards the top.
Thanks for reading! Drop a little heart or even a comment if you get a minute, to show the Substack universe you enjoy a bit of boxing scribble every Friday. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Speak to you all next week…
About Steve: Experienced boxing writer, author of 8 books and podcaster of over 400 eps. 15+ years in the sport. Covered hundreds of shows for newspapers and Boxing News magazine. Chief script writer for Motivedia channel. For enquiries: stevenwellings1982@gmail.com.
Okolie... I don't know why I still tune into his fights expecting anything different! Thought that Light caught Okolie more often than he is used to but never had the power to damage him. It's typical of the cruiserweight division and Okolie's career that unification potential is against relative unknowns in Goulamirian/Opetaia and Badou Jack on a cashout tour.
From a power perspective Lawrence is the closest thing the UK have to a Wilder but he doesn't have the same warrior mentality that will help gain fans. What annoys me about him is that he has all the advantages (reach, power, height) and yet still fights cautiously. This goes against everything that a boxing fan wants to see. Would love to see someone like Joe Joyce juggernaut his way through him.