“Save the date. Golden Boy just made your Cinco de Mayo plans.” With these words, the official account of Golden Boy Promotions — the promotional entity owned by Oscar De La Hoya — announced its intention to stage a world championship fight between the WBA and WBO cruiserweight champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez and the WBC light heavyweight champion David Benavidez.
Benavidez is coming off last Saturday’s overwhelming victory against England’s Anthony Yarde, defeated by technical knockout in seven rounds. “Bandera Roja” began his career at super middleweight and will now be moving into the third weight class of his professional journey to face Ramirez, after having won world titles at 168 and 175 pounds.
Ramirez, too, has climbed progressively through several divisions. The Mexican even started out at middleweight before gradually building up his physique. Zurdo, already a former super middleweight world champion, captured his first cruiserweight world title (WBA) in 2024, taking it from the tough Frenchman Arsen Goulamirian. He then added a second belt (WBO) that same year by unifying with Britain’s Chris Billam-Smith.
So the appointment is set for early May for this fascinating showdown between two highly entertaining fighters. One can only hope that the winner will then choose to take on the IBF champion, Australia’s Jai Opetaia, to determine who truly is the best cruiserweight on the planet.
Meanwhile, the well-known trainer Stephen “Breadman” Edwards has gone as far as to predict a future move to heavyweight for David Benavidez and a showdown with the division’s current top dog, Oleksandr Usyk. Here are the trainer’s words, which clearly reflect the enormous esteem he holds for “Bandera Roja”:
Benavidez is a mix of Margarito, Chavez and Pacquiao. I think he beats Ramirez at Cruiserweight and will be a competive challenge to Usyk at heavyweight in a Superfight.