David Benavidez has no shortage of HUGE fights on his radar. In an exclusive interview with BoxingScene, Jose Benavidez Sr. makes it clear that David still wants the biggest names at 175lbs including Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev. Benavidez has previously said those are two fights he wants to make as he pursues more titles and major challenges. But there’s another name that could make things very interesting: Andy Ruiz Jr. Jose discusses the possibility of an all-Mexican showdown between Benavidez and the former heavyweight champion, along with David’s plans across multiple divisions. And with a potential Jai Opetaia showdown also building after the pair came face-to-face following Opetaia’s latest victory, Benavidez has some massive options ahead.
ProboxTV’s championship series is now on the ProBoxTV YouTube channel for $5/month.
Learn More
Photo: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy PromotionsGilberto Ramirez has plenty on his plate already as a fighter – he is returning from shoulder surgery and preparing to defend his two cruiserweight titles against David Benavidez in May.
But the 34-year-old also wears another hat within the sport. He owns Zurdo Promotions, titled after his nickname. And the company has announced that it will be putting on its third show, co-promoting a January 31 card in Texas alongside Knuckle Up Promotions and Heil Law.
“Gulf Coast Glory” will take place at the Richard M. Borchard Regional Fairgrounds in Robstown, about 20 minutes west of the coastal city of Corpus Christi.
The show is scheduled to feature middleweight Julian Delgado, 7-1 (3 KOs), junior welterweight Jerry Belmontes, 21-10 (6 KOs); Kareem Hackett, 12-1 (6 KOs), moving up to cruiserweight in his first fight since a March 2024 KO loss to Rowdy Legend Montgomery; and featherweight Enkhmandakh Kharkhuu, 7-0 (3 KOs).
Their opponents have not yet been announced.
Zurdo Promotions’ previous shows were in Galveston, Texas, in December 2020 (headlined by Ramirez defeating Alfonso Lopez at light heavyweight via 10th-round TKO) and a card in his hometown of Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico.
“Promotion is something I’ve always wanted to be involved in,” Ramirez said in a press release. “Growing up on the streets of Mazatlan, I’ve always believed in being a bridge between my hometown and the United States. There’s no better place to start than Corpus Christi – a city where I defended my world title twice.”
As a super middleweight titleholder, Ramirez defeated Habib Ahmed via 10th-round TKO in February 2018 in Corpus Christi and won his rematch with Jesse Hart there 10 months later via majority decision.
Ramirez won the WBA cruiserweight title from Arsen Goulamirian via unanimous decision in March 2024, outpointed Chris Billam-Smith to unify with the WBO belt in November of that same year, and last performed in June, when he defeated Yuniel Dorticos on the scorecards to move to 48-1 (30 KOs).
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
