By Allan Fox: David Benavidez believes he’s going to be fighting Caleb Plant in May after he takes care of Jose Uzcategui first in January.

Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) says he was surprised to see Plant’s fight against Anthony Dirrell last Saturday night being called a WBC super middleweight title eliminator, as he’d already earned that distinction last year and had also won the interim WBC 168-lb title.

Benavidez says that if Plant gets a rematch with Canelo Alvarez before he gets his shot, he will be upset because he should get the fight with the superstar because he’s been the WBC mandatory longer.

‘Sweethands’ Plant’s knockout win over Dirrell impressed Benavidez, but he still believes he’s not a big puncher. It was a case of Plant catching the 37-year-old with the perfect shot in the ninth round to get the knockout.

Benavidez says there’s no reason why he can’t fight Plant in May because he intends on beating the former IBF super middleweight champion Uzcategui in January. He feels he won’t have any problems winning that fight.

“I felt it was a very close fight in the beginning. The shot he caught him with was a clean shot. You can’t take clean shots like that,” said David Benavidez to Fighthype, reacting to Caleb Plant’s knockout win over Anthony Dirrell last Saturday night.

“It’s not the power of Caleb that I have to worry about. Despite his knockout, he doesn’t have power. He has really good boxing ability. That’s where the problem is going to be. Me catching him and cutting the ring off and keeping him in one spot.

“The thing with the left hook, it was thrown perfectly. It was a good left hook,” said Benavidez about the left hook that Plant knocked out Dirrell with in the ninth round. “You can’t take shots like that.

“Caleb definitely has power. I’m not going to just walk through his power and get hit with whatever because that’s not the smart thing to do. Yeah, we got a couple of things lined up for him.

“I feel like if he [Plant] wants to get to Canelo, the only way to get to Canelo is through me,” said Benavidez, reacting to Plant not mentioning his name at the post-fight press conference last Saturday night after his win over Dirrell. “We both want to get to that [Canelo].”

It’s going to come down to Canelo to decide whether he wants to make Plant prove himself before giving him a rematch or if he’s going to take that fight right away rather than wait for Sweethands to face Benavidez or Jermall Charlo.

Given the way Canelo has struggled in his last two fights against Gennadiy Golovkin and Dmitry Bivol, it wouldn’t be at all surprising if he chooses to take the Plant fight next May rather than wait for him to face Benavidez or Charlo.

The problem with Canelo waiting for Plant to fight Benavidez is that Sweethands is likely to be annihilated.

When that happens, Canelo would have to fight Benavidez, a fighter that he’s arguably been ducking for years. But if Canelo chooses to fight Plant in May, he can swerve the likely Benavidez fight and take another easy one against Sweethands.

Knowing how Canelo has continually cherry-picked his opposition in the last four years, he’ll likely ignore what the fans want and face Plant next to avoid having to fight Benavidez and watching his career implode.

The problem with Canelo fighting Benavidez is that he would probably get knocked out, and once that happens, it’ll be clear to the fans that he’s washed. Of course, you can argue that Benavidez would have beaten Canelo soundly, no matter what stage of his career. Benavidez is simply a better fighter than Canelo.

“It’s kind of weird. He didn’t mention my name at all. I was watching the fight, and I saw in the bottom corner [of the screen], ‘WBC title eliminator.’ So, I don’t know what that means. I fought for the [WBC] interim title and fought in two other title eliminators. If anybody is going to get a shot at the WBC title, it’s me.

“I don’t know if his WBC title eliminator means that we’re possibly going to fight next or whatever. I just hope they [WBC] don’t try and screw me over and put Caleb in front. Imagine that he gets a rematch before I get a fight against Canelo.

“I hope that doesn’t happen. I feel if we both want to get to Canelo, we both got to go through each other. We just got to get this fight over with.

“I feel like that fight [with Plant] is going to happen because I don’t plan on losing [to Uzcategui in January]. I don’t feel Uzcategui is going to do anything to derail me or take me off the track of fighting Caleb Plant.

“I think this fight builds it up a lot more to make mine and Caleb’s fight that much more exciting. I have [Jose] Uzcategui in January. After that, I think that’s the fight that’s going to happen in May.

“First things first. We got to take care of Uzcategui to get to the fight in May. In my fight with Dirrell, at the end of the fourth round, I began to take over. With him [Plant] and Dirrell, it was more of a boxing fight.

“It was more of a chess match. You could see Caleb setting some stuff up, and you could see Anthony Dirrell timing the stuff that he was setting up.

“You could see that when Canelo was putting pressure on Caleb, you could see that the pressure ultimately made Caleb fold.

“It’s going to be a great fight. I feel like that fight is going to bring the best out of me,” said Benavidez. “I’m just looking forward to it whenever it happens. I feel like my engine, my stamina, and my power will ultimately take over the fight [with Plant].

“90% the fight with Caleb Plant is going to happen after this fight, and I’m even more motivated than ever. Yeah, I did, and that’s why I’m excited too,” said Benavidez when asked if he received confirmation behind the scenes that Plant would be next for him. “That’s why I’m really motivated.

“I’ve got to kick this training camp’s a**, push it to the limit and look great, and then go and get a fight with Caleb Plant. I think it makes more sense too. Everybody wants that fight [Benavidez vs. Plant]. David Morrell can wait.

“The fight with me and Caleb has been simmering for a long, long time, and I feel it’s time to make it happen. It’s the best time to make it happen. We’re both really motivated.

“Caleb says he wants to get that rematch with Canelo. He just had a knockout of Anthony Dirrell, so I’m sure he’s really motivated. I just got to go in there and win this fight [against Uzcategui] and look really good like I always do and then move on to the next fight. I believe that next fight will be Caleb Plant.

“You’ll see my fans fighting with Caleb’s fans, and it’s a like a big fight, and I think that’s what makes it 100% more personal and a better fight and a better build-up.