By Lem Satterfield
Unbeaten former 168-pound champion David Benavidez called a clash with Mexican southpaw Gilberto Ramirez “an action-packed fight,” that “needs to happen” as well as “a war from Round One to Round 12” after watching “Zurdo” retain his WBO crown by majority decision over Jesse at American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Friday night.
The 6-foot-2 Benavidez (20-0, 17 KOs) claims to have sparred “about 150 rounds” with the 6-foot-2 Ramirez (39-0, 25 KOs), who overcame the 6-foot-3 Hart (25-2, 21 KOs) of Philadelphia in a rematch of Ramirez’s narrow unanimous decision victory in September 2017, during which Hart rose from a second-round knockdown.
Hart represented Ramirez’s fifth defense of the crown he won by unanimous decision in April 2016 when the now 27-year-old dethroned Arthur Abraham.
“Gilberto Ramirez is a good friend and I worked with him in a couple of his training camps. I sparred him for his fight with Arthur Abraham, and I sparred him to help him get ready for [his first fight] with Jesse Hart. We were working for about a month and a half,” said Benavidez, 21, speaking to BoxingScene.com from his training facility in Seattle, Washington.
“I would say that we did about 150 rounds. Every time we sparred, we would do no less than 10 rounds, so we did a lot of work. That’s why I’m so confident that I could go in there and beat Zurdo Ramirez. I can beat him if I’m at my ‘A-game.’ He’s a great fighter, and I take nothing from Ramirez. He’s my friend, he’s a tremendous competitor, and that’s why I know it’s going to be an action-packed fight if it ever takes place. I think with our styles it's going to make it a war from Round One to Round 12.”
Once the youngest world champion in division history, Benavidez returns to action on March 16 against an opponent to be determined in a 10-round bout as the co-main event as left-handed IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence (24-0, 21 KOs) defends against four-division title winner Mikey Garcia (39-0, 30 KOs) on FOX (9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT) at The Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The location is near Spence’s hometown of DeSoto.
Benavidez comes back from a six-month suspension for a positive drug test of benzoylecgonine -- a main ingredient for cocaine – and was declared “Champion in recess” in October, effectively stripping of his WBC crown.
The ruling was made at the WBC convention where former champion Anthony Dirrell (32-1-1, 24 KOs) was ordered into a vacant title fight against Avni Yildirim (21-1, 12 KOs), and it allows Benavidez to challenge the winner between Dirrell and Yildirum after his suspension ends on February 27.
Dirrell, a switch-hitting boxer-puncher, will face Turkey’s Yildirum on February 23 at The Minneapolis Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Fox (10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT).
A switch-hitting native of Phoenix, Arizona, Benavidez had been mandated for a September 2017 defense Dirrell, but the ex-champion pulled out due to a back injury.
Instead, a 20-year-old Benavidez earned a split-decision over replacement Ronald Gavril, overcoming an injured middle left knuckle and a final round knockdown to become the youngest world champion in division history and the sport’s youngest titleholder at the time.
Not only did Benavidez end Gavril’s seven-fight winning streak (five by KO), but he surpassed 22-year-old Darrin Van Horn’s accomplishment in May 1991, and won his February return bout with Gavril by near shutout unanimous decision.
Trained by his father, Jose Benavidez Sr., Benavidez debuted professionally at age 16 in Mexico in August 2013, going 7-0 with all knockouts south of the border before competing in his hometown three days after turning 18.
Prior to Gavril, Benavidez scored a three-knockdown, eighth-round TKO of former title challenger Rogelio Medina in May 2017, representing his 10th straight stoppage and his 17th in 18 victories, including 13 inside of two rounds.
Benavidez and Ramirez share a common opponent in Medina, loser by one knockdown sixth-round TKO to Ramirez in December 2010.
“I don’t remember the last fight between super middleweight champions who were Mexicans. It would be huge. I would love to fight Zurdo Ramirez,” said Benavidez, who has moved to a secluded Lake House in Seattle, where he will focus on his preparation with his father, Jose Benavidez Sr..
“I think that it would be an action-packed fight because we know each other’s style so well, and that’s a fight we’ve been wanting for a long time, and it would be an amazing fight for the fans. I think it’s a fight that needs to happen. That’s a fight that I would want, and that’s a fight that people need to see. I wanna get my title back, and then, that’s [fight with Ramirez] exactly what I would like to do.”
