David Benavidez resoundingly beat Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez on Saturday to wrest the unified cruiserweight world titles from the champion’s waist in particularly brutal fashion.
Ramirez, at 200 pounds, was the biggest fighter Benavidez had ever faced, previously competing only twice in light heavyweight title fights, after moving to 175 following a stay at super middleweight.
He out-landed ‘Zurdo’ in every round, dropped him in the fourth, and forced his right eye shut prompting fears that Ramirez may have suffered injury as a result. He was even transported to hospital following the devastating defeat.
However, reports have since emerged that confirms the former champion’s true status.
“I checked in with ‘Zurdo’s’ manager David Sun,” said Ring Magazine’s Manouk Akopyan on X, formerly Twitter, “who told me Ramirez didn’t break anything and was discharged from hospital.
As for Benavidez, there are fights ‘El Monstro’ still wants to explore. He specifically called out Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in the middle of the ring, even though the legend had already left the arena, simply remarking he was only ever there in the first place to support his stablemate, Jaime Munguia.
Benavidez’s words raised cheers from the packed T-Mobile Arena crowd in Las Vegas who clearly still supported the fight, despite the growing weight between them, leaving Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev back down at light heavyweight as viable alternatives.
Matchroom chairman, Eddie Hearn, even said in recent weeks that he had held talks with Benavidez’s representative and that, providing Benavidez and Bivol both win their respective, upcoming fights, it’s a bout that could be explored next.
Outside of that, there is always Jai Opetaia, who recently joined Zuffa Boxing, only to lose his IBF championship as a result of the political war between Zuffa and the sanctioning bodies. Benavidez, though, is keen to fight Opetaia, but loathe to get involved in the politics.
