David Benavidez moves up 25 pounds to challenge Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, but the bigger question is whether he’s taking the wrong fight at the wrong time.
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That was the angle brought up by Manouk Akopyan, who compared the move to the kind of misstep that cost Canelo Alvarez against Dmitry Bivol.
Benavidez weighed in at 196.8 pounds for his cruiserweight debut on Friday, comfortably coming in under the 200-pound limit. Ramirez, the reigning champion at the weight, hit the mark exactly at 200.
The undefeated Benavidez (31-0, 25 KOs) built his career at super middleweight and light heavyweight, using pressure and volume to wear down opponents. Moving up to cruiserweight gives him a chance to win a title in a third division, but it also puts him against an obviously bigger opponent already established in the weight.
Ramirez (48-1, 30 KOs) has won all four of his fights since moving up to cruiserweight in 2023. The Mexican southpaw’s only loss came against Bivol, and he now enters Saturday’s bout with the WBA and WBO titles.
Despite the size jump, Benavidez is listed as a heavy favorite by DraftKings, with odds close to 4-1. It reflects confidence in his pace and physical style that carries weight, even against a full-sized cruiserweight.
Looking at those performances against David Morrell and Oleksandr Gvozdyk, he looked beatable. Benavidez survived those fights, but he didn’t dominate them like he did at 168.
It feels like Benavidez is chasing greatness so much that he may be ignoring his physical limits. Moving from 168 to 175 was one thing, but 200 is a different sport. If he couldn’t bully Morrell without looking like a Frankenstein’s monster by the end, trying to bully a unified cruiserweight champion who is 6’2″ and skilled might be a bridge too far.
The odds of being 4-1 feel more like a tribute to his name value than a reflection of the actual physicality of the game. He might find out the hard way that “The Mexican Monster” has a ceiling, and it could be exactly 190 pounds.
Armando Resendiz weighed in at 167 pounds for his first defense of the WBA super middleweight title, while Jaime Munguia came in at 167.4 at today’s weigh-in.
Resendiz (16-2, 11 KOs) defends against Munguia (45-2, 35 KOs) in co-main event, as card streams up Amazon Prime Video and DAZN pay-per-view in the United States.
Last updated on 2026/05/01 at 15:07
