LAS VEGAS – March 21, 2023 – SHOWTIME SPORTS® boxing schedule is in full swing as the network televises its third live boxing event of March and eighth of the year this Saturday night when 168-pound stars David “The Mexican Monster” Benavídez and Caleb Plant meet in a high-stakes, 12-round showdown to settle their long-simmering feud live on SHOWTIME PPV. The showdown takes place at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas in an event presented by Premier Boxing Champions.
The SHOWTIME® schedule across the first six months of 2023 features four matchups pitting top-5 ranked opponents against each other, including No. 1 Benavídez and No. 2 Plant at super middleweight, according to the Transnational Boxing Rankings.
As the two heated rivals put the finishing touches on their fight-night preparations, here are some news and notes from SHOWTIME SPORTS to gear up for one of the year’s biggest and best fights.
NON-STOP ACTION
SHOWTIME SPORTS is in the middle of one of its strongest schedules in the network’s 37-year history of televising live boxing. Beginning with the February 25 slugfest between Subriel Matias and Jeremias Ponce, the SHOWTIME schedule includes seven live telecasts in nine weeks, culminating with the Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia mega-fight on April 22. The industry-leading schedule already includes some of the biggest names in the sport, including Benavídez, Plant, Davis, Garcia and Sebastian Fundora, with plans to add more star-power with blue-chippers Errol Spence Jr., Jermell and Jermall Charlo, Keith Thurman, Jaron Ennis, David Morrell,and Danny Garcia returning to action.
WALL TO WALL COVERAGE
There will be no shortage of content to feed fight fans’ appetite for Benavídez vs. Plant as SHOWTIME surrounds fight week with wall-to-wall, premium coverage. The full episode of the Emmy® Award winning ALL ACCESS for Benavídez-Plant is now available on the SHOWTIME Sports and Premier Boxing Champions YouTube Channels. Special ALL ACCESS bonus clips are also being released on the SHOWTIME Sports YouTube Channel, including this clip of “The Mexican Monster” revealing a piece of his fight night attire. In addition, several YouTube Shorts, including this one of Plant showing off his impressive shoe collection, can be found on the “Shorts” tab on the SHOWTIME Sports YouTube Channel.
The SHOWTIME Sports YouTube Channel will also be home to live streaming coverage of all fight week events, including open media workouts on Wednesday, the final press conference Thursday, the official weigh-in Friday, and the post-fight press conference. Morning Kombat’s award-winning duo of Brian Campbell and Luke Thomas will serve as the hosts of the live streams on Thursday and Friday, as well as for the SHOWTIME PPV COUNTDOWN show on Saturday, which will include live coverage of preliminary bouts and analysis of the upcoming pay-per-view card. Unbeaten super bantamweight contender Kevin Gonzalez will battle Colombia’s Jose Sanmartin in a 10-round duel topping the countdown prelim show, while Cuban contender Orestes Velazquez takes on Argentina’s Marcelino Lopez in a 10-round super lightweight attraction in other action.
FROM SILVER SCREEN TO BOXING SCENE
The Benavídez family is used to performing on the big stage, but Jose Benavídez Jr. took that premise to a new extreme by starring in the blockbuster film Creed 3. Jose Jr., David’s older brother and a top contender in his own right, delivered a universally praised acting performance as a pivotal character in Creed 3 in his Hollywood debut. He plays the nemesis of Damian “Dame” Anderson, who becomes the central antagonist to the title character Adonis Creed. Away from the silver screen, Jose Jr. helped David prepare for the biggest fight of his career on Saturday. Jose Jr. knows that big-fight feeling well. He’s a former amateur star who challenged welterweight champion Terence Crawford for his WBO title in 2018. He also lost a majority decision to two-division world champion Danny Garcia last July on SHOWTIME but has rebounded nicely as boxer “Felix Chavez” in the third film of the popular Creed film series.
A FAMILIAR STAGE
MGM Grand Garden Arena will serve as the backdrop for Saturday night’s action, which is fitting since the iconic venue has played host to some of the greatest fighters who have stepped through the ropes. Since opening its doors in 1993, Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Oscar De La Hoya, Roberto Duran, George Foreman, Mike Tyson, Roy Jones, Manny Pacquiao, Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder have all performed there. The venue is also familiar to SHOWTIME, as Saturday will mark the network’s 36th live boxing telecast from MGM Grand Garden Arena. Its most recent telecast there was a notable one: Canelo Alvarez’s SHOWTIME PPV November 2021 against Plant. This will be Plant’s third fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena while Benavídez will be making his second appearance there.
BUCKING THE TREND
While Saturday’s main event has the potential to be unforgettable, the headliners aren’t the only ones generating attention. The stacked undercard is led by a pair of undefeated fighters in rising stars Jesús “Mono” Ramos and Joey Spencer who are making a statement about their willingness to face tough opposition rather than pad their records with light touches in agreeing to their 10-round super welterweight bout.
“This fight is proof that if two guys want to get in the ring at any stage in their career, even if it doesn’t necessarily follow the specific script that boxing usually follows, you can make a fight that’s outside of the box,” Spencer said during a press conference on February 22. Ramos concurred, saying, “This new generation is hungry. We want to fight each other. It’s going to bring boxing a lot of big fights and entertaining nights.”
The undercard also features an intriguing contest between two rising lightweights coming off their first career losses as Chris “Primetime” Colbert meets Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela and unbeaten welterweight contender Cody Crowley faces the hard-hitting Abel Ramos in the telecast opener in another well-matched encounter.
FROM SHOBOX®TO PAY-PER-VIEW
Benavídez will be making his eighth appearance on SHOWTIME, having appeared on SHOBOX: The New Generation®, SHOWTIME BOXING: SPECIAL EDITION and SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® previously. Benavídez first appeared on SHOWTIME when he was 18 in the telecast opener of a 2015 SHOBOX, where he introduced himself to the boxing world by scoring a first-round KO over Felipe Romero. In the main event of a 2017 SPECIAL EDITION telecast, Benavídez became the youngest ever world champion in the super middleweight division with a split decision victory over Ronald Gavril. On that night, Benavídez joined a prestigious list of fighters who fought on SHOBOX and went on to win a world title – a list that has grown to 88 names after O’Shaquie Foster won a title in February. Benavídez has since appeared on five SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecasts and now will be making his SHOWTIME PPV debut.
Plant will headline his second SHOWTIME PPV on Saturday night and will be making his third overall appearance on the network after he also scored a victory in the opening bout of the SPECIAL EDITION telecast that was headlined by Benavídez-Gavril.
HOW MUCH YOU WANT TO BET?
DraftKings, the official sportsbook sponsor of Benavídez vs. Plant, views “The Mexican Monster” as a slight favorite on Saturday night. He is currently listed as a -330 favorite, while Plant is a +240 underdog.
Some of the brightest minds in boxing also weighed in with their fight night predictions, with many seeing this as a 50/50 fight that could go either way.
“It’s a 50-50 fight but I think Caleb on points,” said former two-time welterweight world champion Shawn Porter. “Something’s telling me Caleb is in the right place at the right time. I truly think he’s going to break down David, and he’s going to frustrate David.”
“I love the fight given the talent level of the two and the significance within the division,” said Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports. “Plant has everything he needs to win this fight, but I see Benavídez as something of a sleeping giant. He has enormous untapped potential and I believe this fight is coming at the right time for him. I see it as a nailbiter that Benavídez pulls out down the stretch with crisp combination punching.”
WHERE TO CATCH ALL THE ACTION
The four-fight pay-per-view event kicks off at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT and is widely available for purchase and live streaming in the United States at SHOWTIME.com/ppv and via the SHOWTIME app on supported devices including Apple iOS and tvOS devices, Android Mobile, AndroidTV, Roku, Amazon FireTV, Samsung Smart TV and LG Smart TV (2019 models and newer), Xbox One, Xfinity Flex, the Cox Wireless 4K Contour Stream Player and online at SHOWTIME.com. The event is also available for purchase in the U.S. via satellite and telco systems through DIRECTV®, DISH, Sling TV and Vubiquity. The suggested retail price is $74.95 (SRP). In Canada, viewers can purchase and access the event via traditional cable and satellite distributors (Bell, Rogers, Shaw and SaskTel/TELUS). Liberty and Claro TV will offer the event in Puerto Rico. G&G Closed Circuit Events is the commercial distributor within the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada.
THE A TEAM
Veteran sportscaster and “The Last Stand” podcaster Brian Custer will host the SHOWTIME PPV telecast while versatile combat sports voice Mauro Ranallo will once again handle the blow-by-blow action alongside Hall of Fame analyst Al Bernstein and three-division world champion Abner Mares. Three more Hall of Famers round out the most decorated team in boxing – ringside reporter Jim Gray, world-renowned ring announcer Jimmy Lennon, Jr. and boxing historian Steve Farhood as unofficial scorer. Sportscaster Alejandro Luna will call the action in Spanish on Secondary Audio Programming (SAP) with former world champion and SHOBOX: The New Generation commentator Raúl “El Diamante” Marquez serving as the expert analyst. Four-time Emmy® Award winner David Dinkins, Jr. will executive-produce the telecast with Bob Dunphy, son of Hall of Fame boxing announcer Don Dunphy,directing.
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ABOUT BENAVIDEZ VS. PLANT
Benavídez vs. Plant will see undefeated former two-time WBC Super Middleweight Champion David “The Mexican Monster” Benavídez and former IBF Super Middleweight Champion Caleb Plant meet in a high-stakes, 12-round showdown for Benavídez’s Interim WBC Super Middleweight Title live on SHOWTIME PPV on Saturday, March 25 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas in an event presented by Premier Boxing Champions.
In the co-main event, unbeaten rising stars Jesús “Mono” Ramos and Joey Spencer will go toe-to-toe in a 10-round super welterweight scuffle, as each fighter looks to make their claim as the future of the 154-pound division. The action will also see rising lightweights Chris “Primetime” Colbert and Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela meet in a 10-round duel, while unbeaten welterweight contender Cody Crowley faces the hard-hitting Abel Ramos in the telecast opener at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.
For more information visit www.SHO.com/sports, www.PremierBoxingChampions.com, follow #BenavidezPlant, follow on Twitter @ShowtimeBoxing, @PremierBoxing and @TGBPromotions, on Instagram @ShowtimeBoxing, @PremierBoxing and @TGBPromotionss or become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/ShowtimeBoxing.
