In the immediate aftermath of his seventh round TKO of Anthony Yarde, WBC light heavyweight titlist, David Benavidez, announced that he will be moving up in weight to face unified cruiserweight champion, Gilberto Ramirez next Many.
It's a really good fight that I'm certainly looking forward to. But both men are also skirting danger within their weight class.
Both things can be true.
Riyadh Season
Coming into last weekend, Benavidez was rated second in the 175-weight class by Ring Magazine. Rated number one was Artur Beterbiev, and their champion is Dmitry Bivol. With Benavidez moving up to cruiserweight chances are that he is never moving back down in weight. The disparity between the two weight classes is by far the largest of any two weight classes (175 to 200 pounds) that are next to one another below the heavyweight division.
Which means that if this past weekend represented his swan song as a light heavyweight, it means that his run in this division will have consisted of Oleksandr Gvozdyk, David Morrell and Yarde. Not bad by today's standards, but he will not have faced Bivol and Beterbiev (at least in this weight class).
Riyadh Season
As for Ramirez, who has possession of the WBO and WBA cruiserweight straps, is rated atop the Ring ratings. Their champion is the highly regarded Jai Opetaia. You never got the sense that Ramirez and his reps were ever truly interested in facing him for the recognized title.
Opetaia is an island unto himself. He is a dominant fighter in what is currently a weak division. For most American fans, outside of the Evander Holyfield era, it's been the red-headed stepchild of weight classes. At the moment, he is scheduled to face Huseyin Cinkara on December 6. This after facing the likes of Jack Massey, David Nyika and Claudio Squeo.
Where have you gone Dwight Muhammadi Qawi?
Tasman Fighters
The athletic and hard-hitting southpaw from 'Down Under' doesn't so much fight but put on violent recitals.
But the reality is that for Ramirez, Benavidez makes much more sense financially than he does. That's the modern boxing business in a nutshell. Risk-vs-Reward isn't just a phrase, but a way of life. My hope is that the winner of this bout in May eventually faces Opetaia, but I'm a realist.
Make no doubt about it, I'm looking forward to Ramirez-Benavidez. But they did leave some other fights behind.
DONE DEAL
Yes, Ramirez-Benavidez is a done deal.
"We signed it yesterday," said Eric Gomez, the president of Golden Boy Promotions on Saturday night, just minutes after Benavidez announced the fight. "It's a done deal, Oscar (De La Hoya) signed last night -- we have a deal."
According to Gomez -- who hinted at this match-up during his appearance on 'the 3 Knockdown Rule' back in October -- said that they had spent the last month closing this. This bout will be promoted by GBP, Sampson Boxing and PBC.
Golden Boy Promotions
As for who will televise it, you wonder if this will be part of DAZN 'ultimate' subscription package. But Gomez stated, "It hasn't been determined, yet."
This wasn't a difficult deal to make, bottom line, both boxers yearned for it. And to be frank, both offered up easier and more lucrative options than were otherwise available. And given their roots, it does make sense that this bout end up on Cinco De Mayo weekend. This clash also seemed destined to take place.
"Two years, maybe three years ago, 'Zurdo' (Ramirez) predicted this. He said, 'one day I'm going to fight David Benavidez. We sparred, it was heated, a lot of people in the gym stopped to look at us. One day I want to fight him."
An official venue has not been determined but odds are this lands in Las Vegas.
Looking ahead to 2026 in addition to this fight, it's been reported that WBC welterweight belt-holder, Mario Barrios (a PBC client) will face Ryan Garcia, who is represented by Golden Boy. So in addition to that above mentioned match-up, you have two high profile bouts that will be co-promoted by PBC and GBP.
"I think that's what's going to grow the sport, and especially here in the U.S.," said Gomez. "A lot of these promoters, they've been contacting us to do these big fights. We know that it's up to us to keep building the sport here in the United States. And how do we do that?
"By making the best fights possible, and making the best fighters fight each other. There's been a rally cry going on making these big fights. Let's make it happen."
A couple of weeks ago, the always outspoken De La Hoya, stated that his company will be make it a priority to stage more of their big events on the West Coast instead of shipping them out overseas for a few more bucks.
When asked about that, Gomez said, "We're going to do our part to just make great fights, whether it's here on the West Coast, or East Coast, because we have some boxers who are from that part of the country. Whatever it takes to just make fights.
"We have our door wide open to other promoters. Let's just make great fights."
