Benavidez calls out Canelo, Bivol after defeating Ramirez

On Saturday night, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, “The Mexican Monster” David Benavidez added two more belts to his collection at another weight class as he defeated Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez by knockout to become the unified(WBA, WBO) cruiserweight champion.

Benavidez (32-0, 26 KOs) headlined a PBC card during Cinco de Mayo weekend, dropping his fellow Mexican, Ramirez twice, the second of which put him away at 2:59 of the sixth round. 

The three-division world champion, who is still the WBC titleholder at 175 pounds, scored a knockdown of Ramirez (48-2, 30 KOs) in the fourth round after Benavidez’s trademark hand speed overwhelmed Ramirez and forced him to take a knee.

According to CompuBox, Ramirez threw more punches(450-327), but Benavidez landed more(151-89), including 137 power shots.

The 29-year-old Benavidez, who fought at cruiserweight for the first time in his career, says he had to use more than just his power to defeat Ramirez.

Photos: Cris Esquada/Golden Boy Promotions

“I knew I wasn’t going to be able to overpower him because it was my first time coming up to 200 pounds,” said Benavidez. “So, I knew I had to use the gifts that God gave me: speed, power, movement, punch selection, and IQ. That’s exactly what I did.”

Mexican legend Canelo Alvarez, who is expected to fight WBC 168-pound champion Christian Mbilli in the fall, was in the building on Saturday night, and Benavidez called him out.

“I see Canelo is in the building,” Benavidez said. “Let me just ask the fans this. Do you guys want to see Canelo versus David Benavidez? Enough said. That means we can’t leave that fight on the table. I have respect for Canelo. He’s a great champion. I’m a great champion, too. Let’s do it.”

Benavidez says he’s willing to go back down to 175 pounds, and at that weight class, he’s targeting unified 175-pound champion Dmitry Bivol.

“I’m still champion at 175,” he said. “I’m champion at 175 and 200. So, if they want to come get it at 175, let’s get it at 175. Bivol is the number one on my hit list. He’s a great competitor and a great champion, but I’m a good champion, too. I just want to test myself every single fight.”