The fight raises concerns over timing as Benavidez jumps to face unified champion Gilberto Ramirez
David Benavidez (31-0, 25 KOs) is moving up to cruiserweight to face Gilberto Ramirez (48-1, 30 KOs), but questions have been raised about the timing. Manouk Akopyan compared the decision to past missteps, pointing to the challenge of facing a settled champion at 200 pounds.
Benavidez weighed 196.8 pounds on Friday for his cruiserweight debut, coming in comfortably under the 200-pound limit. Ramirez, the established titleholder at the weight, hit the mark exactly at 200.
The unbeaten Benavidez has built his career at super middleweight and light heavyweight. Moving up to cruiserweight gives him a chance to win a title in a third division, but it also puts him in with a naturally bigger opponent who has already settled into 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 defeat came against Bivol, and he now enters Saturday’s bout holding the WBA and WBO titles.
Despite the size jump, Benavidez is listed as a heavy favorite by DraftKings, with odds close to 4-1. That reflects confidence in his pace and physical style carrying up in weight, even against a full-sized cruiserweight.
If we look at those performances against David Morrell and Oleksandr Gvozdyk, he looked beatable. Benavidez survived those fights, but he didn’t dominate them the way he did at 168.
It feels like Benavidez is chasing greatness so hard that he might 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 savvy might be a bridge too far.
The odds being 4-1 feels more like a tribute to his name value than a reflection of the actual physical match-up. He might find out the hard way that “The Mexican Monster” has a ceiling, and it might be exactly 190 pounds.
Armando Resendiz weighed 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 the main support bout, as the card streams on Amazon Prime Video and DAZN pay-per-view in the United States.