David Benavidez wasn’t at all interested in taking a victory lap.
The unbeaten two-division titlist cut right to the chase when asked about plans following his seventh-round knockout of Anthony Yarde on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In an environment where many fighters before him would praise and await further instruction from Turki Alalshikh and Riyadh Season, Benavidez dropped news of his next fight – one that will take place outside that circuit.
Benavidez will pursue a third divisional crown in a bold challenge against unified WBA and WBO cruiserweight titlist Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez.
“I got some news for you guys,” Benavidez said shortly after his one-sided drubbing of Yarde, 27-4 (24 KOs). “May 2, me versus Zurdo Ramirez. I’m going up to cruiserweight to challenge for a title. So I’m excited for that.”
BoxingScene has learned that a hold was already placed on the date for T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
None of the parties involved were in a position to discuss the matter because a couple of loose ends remain. However, Golden Boy Promotions – Ramirez’s promoter – validated the matchup through social media channels shortly after Benavidez’s news drop.
“Save the date,” Golden Boy said through its company account, the post accompanied by a poster of Ramirez and Benavidez. “Golden Boy just made your Cinco de Mayo weekend plans.”
Two sources familiar with the situation have confirmed that Mexico’s Ramirez, 48-1 (30 KOs), will first return to the ring on the recently announced January 16 Alexis Rocha-Raul Curiel II undercard. The bout will be Ramirez’s first since recovering from shoulder surgery following his June 28 points win over Yuniel Dorticos in Anaheim, California.
With a win, already-signed agreements will then be executed to move forward with the event, which BoxingScene has learned will be a joint promotion between Golden Boy, Sampson Boxing and Premier Boxing Champions (PBC).
Benavidez is promoted by Sampson Lewkowicz, founder and head of Sampson Boxing, and has fought on PBC shows since its first-year launch in 2015.
Benavidez, 31-0 (25 KOs), picked up his first knockout win at light heavyweight with Saturday’s drubbing of Yarde, who is now 0-3 with three knockout defeats in major title fights. The stoppage was the first for Benavidez since a November 2023 sixth-round knockout of Demetrius Andrade in his final fight at super middleweight.
The decision to campaign at light heavyweight ended years of frustration for Benavidez, a former two-time 168lbs titlist who was long denied a showdown with then-undisputed champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, 63-3-2 (39 KOs). Three wins have followed at 175lbs for Benavidez, including unanimous decision victories over Oleksandr Gvozdyk and David Morrell Jnr to win secondary versions of both the WBC and WBA titles at the weight.
Benavidez was upgraded to full WBC titleholder at 175lbs after Dmitry Bivol vacated the belt in lieu of an ordered title consolidation bout. Bivol was a longtime WBA titlist who regained his belt along with becoming undisputed champion after a revenge-fueled majority decision victory over Artur Beterbiev in their February 22 rematch in Riyadh.
Alalshikh invited Benavidez to attend the event, with initially teased plans for the Phoenix native to fight the winner. Benavidez traveled abroad but did not stay the entire time or attend the fight – nor did such a fight ever materialize.
In fact, Alalshikh went out of his way to declare that he had no interest in bidding on Bivol-Benavidez once the matter headed to a purse bid hearing. It proved moot, as Bivol instead chose to break up his fully unified title reign rather than move forward with the fight. He is still the lineal champ and unified WBA, IBF and WBO titlist. However, he also hasn’t fought since the Beterbiev rematch, and there is no guarantee he will face Benavidez in 2026 – or ever.
Naturally, Benavidez was aware of this possibility and long ago planned ahead for a potential move up the scale.
Benavidez spoke passionately about one day challenging Ramirez during the buildup to his eventual win over a then-unbeaten Morrell on February 1 in Las Vegas.
Ramirez won each of his two cruiserweight titles in 2024. He dethroned unbeaten WBA titlist Arsen Goulamirian via unanimous decision last March 30 in Inglewood, California. His year ended in Riyadh, where he decisively outpointed Chris Billam-Smith to collect the WBO title.
Ramirez’s abovementioned win over Dorticos satisfied his WBA mandatory. The WBO has taken steps to proceed with an interim title fight between German contenders Roman Fress and Tahir Kahrovic, tentatively eyed for January 10 in Magdeburg, Germany.
Although the winner of that fight would obviously be in line to challenge for the full belt, it is likely that a title consolidation order would come sometime after Ramirez-Benavidez.
That would leave Ramirez winning on January 16 and escaping unscathed as the only remaining hurdle to proceed with the contest.
Given Benavidez’s current title status, his reign and announced plans for his next fight are likely to be addressed during the annual WBC convention currently underway in Bangkok, Thailand.
