Derrick James is one of the most well-respect trainers in all of boxing having three of the best and most exciting fighters in boxing with Errol Spence Jr., Jermell Charlo, and Anthony Joshua. Now add to it, Frank Martin a vibrant young talent, and you can see why the world is behind James as a voice to listen to in boxing.
Despite being a world-class boxing coach fighting for the biggest purses in the sport of boxing, James still trains regular people to meet their fitness goals. The humble nature of James is also why his opinion is so deeply valued, when it came to a media conference call with legendary coaches last week to be predictive of the David Benavidez vs. Caleb Plant pay-per-view fight this Saturday, March 25th.
“This is an interesting fight. I like both of those guys and I’ve known them for a while. It comes down to who can take it. Who can implement what they do best? Both have fast hands and are athletic. It’s going to come down to fortitude,” said James.“Both guys share the weakness of depth. Because they’ve never had to dig themselves out of trouble. That’s what we don’t know about because we haven’t really seen them have to do that. It may not be their weakness, but looking at it from the outside, we don’t really know.”
Though James has never coached against either fighter, yet, that is still not out of the realm of possibility. For James, the x-factor appears to be the heightened emotion between the two fighters and the dislike stemming from the fighters going outward to their camps. Another aspect James hints at is the fact that both Plant and Benavidez will have their fathers in their corner. For Plant, his co-trainer is Richie Plant, his father, and Jose Benavidez Sr., is the head trainer of David Benavidez.
As for the keys to victory outlined by Derrick James, it appears that as prefaced at the start of this article, it will come down to mentality and rhythm. The first fighter to settle in, and get comfortable setting the tone of the fight might just be the one who walks away with the victory.
“If I was fighting David Benavidez, I would do my best to not let him be himself. I would do whatever I could to offset him. The best way is probably with movement, because whenever he stands in front of you, it’s a bad day. You better practice holding and clinching, because if you don’t, it’s going to be a long night,” said James on his keys to victory. “If I’m training Benavidez, I’d tell him he has to pressure Caleb. But you have to watch out, because Caleb sets traps. You have to back him down at a distance and hope that he’ll succumb to the pressure. Caleb is a great counter-puncher and has great defense. You have to stay two steps ahead of him.”
