Demetrius Andrade Awaits Plant-Benavidez Winner?

Two former world champions are set to go blow for blow in one of the biggest boxing matches of the year, as undefeated David Benavidez will face off against Caleb Plant in a PPV super middleweight bout set for March 25 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Perhaps even more important than the fight itself is its ramifications for other matches moving forward: both fighters want a chance to fight Canelo Álvarez, and can use a win as a springboard to challenge him.

If Benavidez or Plant can’t land the Canelo fight, you can bet that Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade will be pushing to pick it up. Andrade, a southpaw out of Providence, Rhode Island

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The Massachusetts Gaming Commission recently announced that mobile betting will launch in the Bay State on March 10: two weeks ahead of the fight between Plant and Benavidez.

Andrade is a two-time world champion as well, holding the title at light middleweight from 2013 to 2015, and at middleweight from 2018 to 2022. Andrade has never lost the title because of a loss, holding a perfect 32-0 record in his career. Instead, Andrade surrendered his titles after opting not to defend them, taking time off from the sport and declining any challengers.

Although he’s taken time off to train for a different weight class or to heal from injuries, Andrade has never been one to shy away from calling out the top dogs. Right now he’s looking to get a piece of the pie against any of the big names surrounding the Benavidez/Plant matchup. He’s called out Álvarez, Benavidez and Plant repeatedly within the past year, and will certainly challenge anyone with an open schedule following the March matchup.

Álvarez is the current world champion, and the only undisputed super middleweight champ in boxing history: he claimed the distinction in November 2021 via a technical knockout of Plant—who also had a chance at the honor with a win—in the 11th round. Plant wants a rematch with Álvarez, and a win over Benavidez could make him an impossible challenger to ignore.

Álvarez, similarly, has long avoided a match with Benavidez despite many challenges from the latter. Benavidez holds a perfect 26-0 record in his career but Álvarez sneered at the margin when asked, saying that it came with an asterisk because Benavidez hasn’t faced an elite level of competition yet.

Similar to Andrade, Benavidez, a two-time WBC super middleweight champion, has never relinquished the title because of his actions in the ring: he held the title from 2017 to 2018 before being stripped of it following a positive test for cocaine use. He reclaimed the title in 2019, but lost it after failing to make weight ahead of a fight with Roamer Alexis Anguelo in August 2020.

Benavidez was born in Phoenix, but he’s nicknamed The Mexican Monster in homage to his father, who was born in Mexico. Álvarez has gone on record saying that he doesn’t want to fight Benavidez in part because of his heritage, preferring to represent his home country instead of keeping other fighters who share his background down.

“When I say I don’t wanna fight Mexicans [it is] because I represent Mexico. That’s why. But I don’t care. [I’ll] fight anybody,” Álvarez said. “What do you think? I don’t wanna fight this one Mexican?…Don’t lack respect when you talk about me. I’ve faced the best out there. I’ve never ducked anyone.”