LAS VEGAS – David Benavidez is not the champion on Saturday night’s card, and his appearance atop the Cinco de Mayo glamor event is his first.
Yet, the 29-year-old Phoenix fighter’s comfort in elevating to the stage is undeniable, and when asked if he intends to own the date for years to come, Benavidez rushed to answer, “Why not?
“As a Mexican-American fighter, this is something we all dream of. I can show my heart, my spirit and I can show I’m a Mexican on this date with the fights I’ve been given.”
The confidence and talent oozing from Benavidez, a two-division champion pursuing his third division belt, is seen in the fact that he’s moving up a startling 25 pounds to debut at cruiserweight against unified champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, 34, of Mexico.
“You can expect the best David Benavidez ever. I’m very locked in,” Benavidez said. “I’ve worked five months [in the gym]. … I’m looking forward to performing at my highest level.”
Benavidez, 31-0 (25 KOs), arrives from a five-fight stretch of victories over former super middleweight titleholder Caleb Plant (unanimous decision), former middleweight belt holder Demetrius Andrade (sixth-round stoppage), former light heavyweight titlist Oleksandr Gvozdyk (unanimous decision), previously unbeaten light heavyweight David Morrell Jnr (unanimous decision) and light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Yarde (seventh-round TKO).
“I will continue working my way up there because I know I can pull greatness from myself against all of these great fighters,” Benavidez said.
As three-belt light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol returned from back surgery and was locked into an IBF mandatory defense, WBC light heavyweight titleholder Benavidez surveyed the landscape and selected belt holder Ramirez, who has lost only to Bivol and has previously sparred more than 100 rounds with Benavidez.
When someone asked Benavidez what to make of his backstage embrace of Ramirez, he said, “Honestly, that doesn’t mean shit. I’m here to go for the kill. ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez is a great friend of mine. Every member of his team is a great person. But a job has to be done Saturday, and there are no friends in this. There’s no respect in the ring from me.
“I’m locked in to my shit. Every time I spar someone, their process gets downloaded into my brain – especially when I’ve done it for 100 rounds. [Ramirez has] learned and evolved, but I see the same things that landed on him then landing on him now. Even if he gets away from the combinations and body shots and speed – whatever comes my way, I’m prepared for.”
Upon learning Ramirez said he may only fight twice more after this bout and anticipates a break from boxing, Benavidez said, “That’s something he should have kept to himself. I’m looking to go another 10 years.”
He shooed away concerns over the massive jump in weight, and the fact Ramirez has never been downed.
The added weight “feels good,” Benavidez said. “I always get the best out of myself, even through a hard weight cut. So I feel I’ll really be able to shine because there’s no weight cut.
“My speed has held up really well. I’ve trained every day. All of this has allowed me to have more energy and perform at my best.”
When someone noted that Oscar De La Hoya – Benavidez’s Cinco de Mayo headliner predecessor and Ramirez’s promoter – said he can foresee a Ramirez haymaker exposing Benavidez’s chin, the challenger said, “People say a lot of shit. I don’t care. I’m here to prove something else.
“It doesn’t matter [that Ramirez has never been dropped]. How you hurt someone is with accuracy and volume punches. I’m very accurate. I throw a lot. And I mix it up very well. This is against a fighter I’ve hurt before in sparring – this is in 10-ounce gloves. I know he’s got a pretty durable chin, but I’m not just aiming for the chin. I’m aiming for the body. I’ll touch everything.”
Benavidez arrives here perhaps best known for who he hasn’t fought: four-division champion and former pound-for-pound king Canelo Alvarez, 35, who avoided Benavidez as the WBC’s top-ranked and mandatory 168lbs challenger.
Alvarez, who trains alongside Saturday co-main event fighter and 168lbs title challenger Jaime Munguia, will attend Saturday’s bout after more than a decade as a Cinco de Mayo headliner. Alvarez is recovering from elbow surgery following his September loss to Terence Crawford while eyeing a September return in Saudi Arabia (which was reportedly made official Thursday).
“It’s a big magnitude. You can tell because Canelo didn’t go to Munguia’s last fight,” Benavidez said. “He’s saying he’s coming to see Munguia. He’s coming to see me, up close and personal.
“Whether it’s to scout me or no … we’ll see how everything plays out. I don’t know [if we’ll ever fight]. I know as much as you guys. I know it’d be a disappointment to leave that fight on the table.
“But I went to his fights. Now he’s coming to my fights. I don’t need to say anything else.”
Benavidez spoke about future Cinco de Mayo cards as an opportunity to test himself, perhaps next year against Bivol, inviting the best fighters of the era to join him on stacked shows.
“I’m just trying to make the biggest and best fights happen,” he said. “Wherever that happens is where I’m going to be. I don’t want to say, ‘This is who I’m going to fight next.’ I don’t know. Things happen. Whatever the best opportunity I have, that’s who I’ll fight.”
Upon a reporter’s suggestion that he could stand as the best Mexican-American fighter since De La Hoya, Benavidez candidly said he has to accomplish more.
“I have to put the work in first. I have respect for the game,” he said. “In my heart, I do believe I can be that, and that I’m on the right trajectory.
“Put those guys in front of me, and I’ll show you guys what I’m made of.”
Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.
