LAS VEGAS – They call him the “Monster” and on Saturday night he offered his most fearsome display. David Benavídez gained 25 pounds to challenge Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramírez for the cruiserweight crown (WBA, WBO) and knocked him out in six rounds to remain undefeated in professional boxing.
David Benavídez (32-0, 26 KO) has now been champion in the super middleweight, light heavyweight and cruiserweight divisions, a rarity in boxing.
After the victory, Benavídez said: “I saw Canelo in the arena. Do you want to see that fight?”, provoking the reaction of the public in the Enviornment T-Cell. “No one can f… with the Monster.”
Benavídez was the first to connect with a series of right hands in the first round and later with an electrifying combination with which he showed off his quick hands. In the second, the “Monster” shook Ramírez’s head and brought the audience to its feet, closing with another of his blasts. And in the next round, Benavídez increased his volume of blows against a very stiff man.
And that set the table for Round 4, in which Benavídez beat the Mexican with whom he sparred years ago. It was relentless punishment. culminated by a left so that the Sinaloan giant slowly went to the canvas by placing one knee on the ground. He survived the bell ringing just after receiving the protection bill.
Ramírez, however, recovered quite a bit in the 5th and matched what until then was a one-sided fight. But it’s just a matter of time. In the sixth, Benavídez waited for his moment and with his umpteenth flurry of blows to the head he hurt “Zurdo”who complained of possibly a serious injury and seconds later knelt. He could not get up in the agony of the round, having destroyed his right eye.
Canelo Álvarez was present
The fight did not fill the Enviornment T-Cell of a city that has suffered in recent years due to the decline in tourists, but it attracted boxing figures, including Mike Tyson, Tommy Hearns, Ryan García and Canelo Álvarez.
El Tapatío, who usually heads the Cinco de Mayo billboard, He appeared wearing a black t-shirt with the name Jaime Munguía as a show of support by the man he defeated two years ago on the same stage and who is also trained by Eddy Reynoso.
“It’s going to be a good fight,” Álvarez simply said about the biggest fight of the evening when interviewed by Jim Gray before the co-main event and He anticipated that Benavídez would be his favorite to win. Canelo was not wrongnor did the betting houses, which had the man born in Phoenix as a favorite with an odds of -400.
Later, Canelo sat ringside and kept yelling at Munguía during his strong performance against Armando Reséndiz in the co-main event.
The achievements of the “Mexican Monster”
David Benavídez, now 32-0, was crowned World Boxing Council (WBC) super middleweight champion in 2017 by beating Ronald Gavril and made a defense. After a doping sanction, He reconquered the interim title in 2019 with a victory over Anthony Dirrell and defended him once.
In 2022, the man from Phoenix captured the WBC interim super middleweight title with a victory over David Lemiex and made two successful defenses.
And then in 2024, Benavídez moved up to light heavyweight and won the WBC interim crown after beating Oleksandr Gvozdyk. He defended it against David Morrell, with whom he unified the WBA belt, and in his previous presentation he beat Anthony Yarde in Arabia.
And now he is crowned the new 200-pound king to take another step in his powerful career.
Gilberto Ramírez, for his part, falls to forty eight-2.
The one from Mazatlán was crowned WBO super middleweight champion in 2017 with a victory over Arthur Abraham and defended it five times.
In 2024, the “Zurdo” made history by defeating Chris Billam-Smith to become the first Mexican to win the world cruiserweight title. He once defended that WBO scepter in heavy June against Yuniel Dórticos.
News in development
Keep reading:
– The emotional reunion of Julio César Chávez and Óscar de la Hoya in Las Vegas
– Canelo Álvarez talks about finances and considers that the poor “are poor because they want to”
– Naoya Inoue remains unbeatable by defeating his compatriot Nakatani on points
