Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez is confident that he is as ready as he ever will be for arguably the most notable fight of his career.
BoxingScene has confirmed that the unified WBA/WBO cruiserweight titlist will forgo a once-planned tune-up and head straight into his mouthwatering showdown with David Benavidez. The two will meet on May 2 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ramirez, 48-1 (30 KOs), was once tabbed to appear on the Golden Boy Promotions card that just aired on DAZN last Friday from Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, California. However, targeted challenger Robin Sirwan Safar was unable to proceed with the bout due to a knuckle injury that wouldn’t heal in time to push forward with the date.
Safar, 19-0 (13 KOs), was hopeful of rescheduling the bout. The ideal placement would have been on the undercard of the February 21 Mario Barrios-Ryan Garcia WBC welterweight title fight in Las Vegas. However, in addition to the Barrios-Garcia event now belonging to Turki Alalshikh instead of PBC and Golden Boy, the window of opportunity passed as Ramirez is no longer interested in an in-ring rust shaker.
“Truly honored to defend my WBA and WBO titles and represent Mexico on Cinco de Mayo weekend in Las Vegas,” Ramirez said of the opportunity.
Ramirez will attempt his third overall cruiserweight title defense and his second as a unified titlist. He won the WBA belt in a March 2024 unanimous decision victory over unbeaten Arsen Goulamirian. He then wrapped up the year with a competitive but clear win over Chris Billam-Smith to add the WBO title to his collection.
Both belts were at stake in Ramirez’s unanimous decision over former two-time cruiserweight titlist and WBA mandatory challenger Yuniel Dorticos last June 28 in Anaheim, California. There were talks of Ramirez facing lineal, Ring and IBF champ Jai Opetaia in the second half of 2025, but Ramirez was benched for the rest of the year after undergoing shoulder surgery in July.
Ramirez previously held the WBO super middleweight title for more than two years before he moved up to light heavyweight in 2019. His bid to win a title at the weight ended in a November 2022 defeat to Dmitry Bivol for the WBA belt, the lone blemish on his otherwise stellar record.
Benavidez, 31-0 (25 KOs), will aim to become a three-division titlist. The former two-time WBC super middleweight titleholder added the WBC light heavyweight belt to his collection last year. It came by default, as he was upgraded from interim titlist after Bivol refused to move forward with their ordered title consolidation bout.
One defense followed: a one-sided, seventh-round knockout of Anthony Yarde last November 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Benavidez revealed during the post-fight interview that – rather than wait on whoever they put in front of him – he decided to once again let his nuts hang and chase after a showdown 25lbs north with Ramirez.
Regardless of the outcome, Benavidez will be one-and-done at the weight. In the opposite direction, the naturally bigger Ramirez has aspirations of becoming the first ever fighter born in Mexico to win a heavyweight title.
