Benavidez on Sparring Ramirez: It Was So Good I Could Sell Tapes

By Ryan Burton

Newly crowned WBC super middleweight champion David Benavidez (19-0) was very impressed with fellow super middleweight champion Gilberto Ramirez's unanimous decision victory over Jessie Hart.

Benavidez won his crown on September 8th when he defeated Ronald Gavril in Las Vegas while Ramirez made the second defense of his title two weeks later in Tucson.

With the victory the 20-year-old Benavidez became the youngest super middleweight champion ever.

Ramirez dominated the fight and dropped Hart early on before the Philadelphia native battled back in the later rounds but it was too little too late.

"I think he had an amazing fight. It was a tough fight and he showed that he has what it takes to be a champion and he brought it all out to beat a good fighter like Jesse Hart. Hart came back but Ramirez took over the fight in my opinion," Benavidez told BoxingScene.com.

Benavidez and Ramirez regularly train together in the Los Angeles area and are known to have had some epic sparring sessions. 

When asked to give details on the sessions, Benavidez responded, "If I would have recorded them and put them online I could sell them. That's how good they are. Ramirez and I get really good sparring sessions."

Benavidez is expected to return to the ring in January in a world title rematch against Gavril. The two sides are negotiating the details and the WBC is on board with the second fight taking place. On the other hand, Ramirez is slated to return to the ring on February 3rd, when he stakes his WBO world title against an opponent to be determined in a voluntary defense. Ramirez's fight is slated to kick off the 2018 season of Top Rank's ESPN series.

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