Benavidez Eyes Clash With Zurdo Ramirez – ‘The Biggest Fight In Cruiserweight History’

David Benavidez is open to moving up to cruiserweight to take on Zurdo Ramirez.
Benavidez is preparing to face David Morrell Jr. in his next fight at 175. They face off on February 1 in a battle of two undefeated fighters. Benavidez is coming off a win against Oleksandr Gvozdyk in a WBC Interim Light Heavyweight clash. He defeated Gvozdyk via a unanimous decision. But the performance was criticized after he failed to stop his man, getting hit more than usual. It was Benavidez’s first bout at the weight, while he later disclosed suffering a hand injury during the fight. Morrell became the WBA Interim Light Heavyweight Champion by beating Radivoje Kalajdzic in his first bout in the division.
Benavidez Vs. Ramirez
The winner of Benavidez-Morrell puts themselves in a position to fight for the Undisputed Light Heavyweight Championship. That takes place between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol, who face off on February 22. But Benavidez also has a backup plan to target a title in another weight class against Ramirez if there is a third fight with Beterbiev and Bivol. The latter is the WBO and WBA Cruiserweight Champion. He defeated Chris Billam-Smith in his last fight to unify the division. Ramirez only has one loss on his record, losing to Bivol via a unanimous decision. Benavidez was excited about this match-up.
“That is definitely a fight that we’re eyeing and if we could get that fight tomorrow, we’d go and fight that fight tomorrow. I know Zurdo Ramirez real well and I’m actually proud of him, too, because he’s the unified champ at 200 pounds. He won two titles, he accomplished a lot. I’ve known him for a long time, so it makes me really proud to be his friend and work with him. So I feel like, at the end of the day, this could possibly be one of the biggest fights in cruiserweight history. You know, two Mexicans going at it. It’d definitely be a great fight,” Benavidez said
Benavidez In Saudi
Benavidez has also addressed the increasing number of boxing fights in Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom has become the home of major boxing, having recently put on some of the biggest fights. They made Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk for the Undisputed Heavyweight Championship, the first undisputed fight since 1999. They also held the rematch. The same can be said for the undisputed bouts between Beterbiev and Bivol at 175. Benavidez was asked about whether he would consider fighting in the Kingdom. While he praised the Saudis for giving fighters big paydays, he still considered himself a Vegas boxer.
“That’s crazy money. So, I feel us boxers went through this time where we really weren’t really making a lot of money. So now the doors are open, and we can make more money. I love what Turki Al-Shiekh is doing, but we’ve still got to think about the U.S. I want to be a Vegas fighter. They still got to come to Vegas. People are still going to be in the U.S. Not everybody can go to Riyadh and go to all of those fights. I would be down to be on one of their cards, but we’ve got the U.S. that we need to take care of,” Benavidez said
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