PHOENIX – The WBO and WBA are prepared to withdraw their sanctioning of the May 2 unified cruiserweight championship fight between Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez and David Benavidez due to the unexpected involvement in the fight by the WBC, BoxingScene learned Thursday.
The Mexico-based WBC this week summoned two-division champions Ramirez, 48-1 (30 KOs), and Benavidez, 31-0 (25 KOs), to Mexico for a ceremony unveiling a special new “Tollan Tlatequi” belt for the Cinco De Mayo bout winner in Las Vegas.
That event, according to boxing officials, prompted a conversation between WBO President Gustavo Olivieri and WBA President Gilberto Mendoza.
Although the unbeaten Benavidez wears the WBC light heavyweight belt, his cruiserweight pursuit is for the WBO and WBA straps in an event those sanctioning bodies want to stamp as their own.
Thus, the WBO and WBA are expected to submit letters Friday to Golden Boy Promotions’ Oscar De La Hoya and Eric Gomez and Premier Boxing Champions’ Tom Brown and Luis DeCubas Jnr expressing their dismay.
If the WBC special belt is to be fought for, according to the letter, the WBO and WBA will not award their belts to the winner.
Noel Mikaelian, of Armenia, currently wears the WBC cruiserweight belt.
Olivieri and Mendoza did not immediately respond to messages left by BoxingScene on Thursday.
Because Ramirez is from Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico, and Benavidez is a Mexican-American from Phoenix, the fight is being billed as an all-Mexico affair, built around a significant date for that country (as well as on the annual boxing calendar).
The drama continues a weeks-long saga over belts that saw the WBC yank its belt from lightweight titleholder Shakur Stevenson after he fought for the WBO 140lbs belt and didn’t pay the WBC-requested sanctioning fees.
Then, earlier this week, the IBF declined to sanction cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia’s title defense in Las Vegas because of the presence of the new Zuffa Boxing belt.
Whether Opetaia will be stripped or not is still under consideration by the IBF.
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.
