LAS VEGAS – Taking great comfort in the weight limit that comes as a cruiserweight, two-division champion David Benavidez made weight Friday for his Saturday night title shot with more than three pounds to spare. 

Phoenix’s Benavidez 31-0 (25KOs) weighed in at 196.8lbs for the Prime Video/DAZN pay-per-view bout at T-Mobile Arena while WBO/WBA champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez 48-1 (30KOs) weighed in at the limit 200lbs.

Benavidez’s father/trainer, Jose Benavidez Snr, said earlier this week he expects his son to rehydrate to around 210lbs by Saturday night’s first bell, with Ramirez, 34, likely to be around 225lbs.

Adding to that bulk is the fact Ramirez has never been knocked down.

Benavidez has spoken of relying on his impressive hand speed to break down Ramirez with accurate and frequent power punches.

In Saturday’s other world title fight, new WBA super-middleweight champion Armando Resendiz weighed in at 167lbs while second-time title challenger and former 154lbs champion Jaime Munguia weighed 167.4lbs.

Also on the pay-per-view card, ranked 140lbs contender Oscar Duarte made weight, but saw his opponent Angel Fierro come in over two pounds heavy. An official told BoxingScene Duarte will still fight Fierro.

The weights were recorded at the Friday morning official weigh-in at MGM Grand, with the ceremonial weigh-in to occur inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena Friday at noon Pacific.

In post-press conference interviews Thursday, Benavidez, 29, spoke of the opportunity to headline his first Cinco de Mayo card and how he’s admired by his peers.

“I’ve shown what I’m made of and what I can become. I think fighters appreciate that because we’re all trying to get the best out of ourselves,” Benavidez said.

Moving up 25 pounds to fight at cruiserweight while standing as the WBC light-heavyweight champion has generated talk that Benavidez is gaining on six-division champion Oscar De La Hoya as one of the sport’s most accomplished Mexican-American fighters.

“That’s why I’m taking these chances. You’re only as good as your opponents. I’m trying to put as many champions on there as possible, so when my time is finished, there will be no debate: Everyone will know David Benavidez was the best of his generation,” Benavidez said.

One of the assets to that claim is that Benavidez has been so untroubled in the ring since surviving a knockdown in his 2017 split-decision victory over Ronald Gavril to win the WBC super-middleweight belt at age 20.

“You can’t go into a fight thinking that it’s not going to be difficult,” Benavidez told BoxingScene during a scrum with reporters. “Anything can happen in these kinds of fights. This guy [Ramirez] is a world champion, he’s been a world champion in another division.

“If you think a fight’s not going to be difficult, you’ve already lost. You’ve got to be in it until it ends. If it becomes difficult for me, that becomes better for me.

“I always fight my way out of it and I show everyone who I am.”

No fighter has ever stood as super-middleweight, light-heavyweight and cruiserweight champion – a claim that would quiet the few Benavidez critics who increasingly have little to chatter about, even though he still hears negative talk as Canelo Alvarez’s longtime rival.

“The doubts and the drama gives me more energy, more fire to my flame to show who I am,” Benavidez said. “I’m always going to be doubted, but when I walk in that ring, there’s nothing they can say because this is what I love to do.

“This is my passion. I’m always on my P’s and Q’s. I know exactly what I’m doing. I know how to defend myself. I’m going to go in and attack.”