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It is, perhaps, an unexpected fight considering Benavidez only fought twice at light heavyweight<\/a> after winning world title fights at super middleweight. And considering recent talks<\/a> for a fight with Dmitry Bivol, there is clearly unfinished business for the WBC light heavyweight champion at 175 pounds.<\/p>\n Ramirez, too, could box other cruiserweight giants like Jai Opetaia.<\/p>\n For fans on the outside looking in, both men have more pressing rivals. But, for the fighters themselves, this is a bout they have visualized for years.<\/p>\n Their story goes back to a sparring session in 2016 \u2014 a time when Benavidez was still a prospect 18 months shy of his first championship win.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n A more established fighter at that time, Ramirez recruited the teenage \u201cMonster\u201d into his camp to help him prepare for his first title shot against Arthur Abraham. Ramirez won that fight by lopsided decision.<\/p>\n \u201cThe sparring happened a long time ago,\u201d Ramirez told Uncrowned. \u201cThe sessions would have been a great pay-per-view.\u201d<\/p>\n Both left the gym knowing they\u2019d one day fight for real when the lights were brightest and the stage was grandest.<\/p>\n “I was only 17 years old but I always knew I was going to fight him,\u201d Benavidez said. \u201cI just didn\u2019t think it would be at cruiserweight. But, honestly, this is even better.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n For Ramirez, those sparring sessions provided him with the intensity and high-level action that helped yield that comfortable win over Abraham. In the years since, he\u2019s gained more muscle, and more technical nous, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe both know that each of us has a lot of skill that we\u2019ll be bringing into the ring, but I\u2019ve also grown a lot as a fighter since we sparred,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve gotten a lot more experience that I\u2019m going to take into this fight.\u201d<\/p>\n And, though the sparring is just one narrative heading into this unified world title fight, there is something far more lucrative at stake than the WBA and WBO belts available to the winner.<\/p>\n Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez speaks as David Benavidez watches on ahead of their Las Vegas title fight.<\/p>\n (Cris Esqueda\/Golden Boy via Getty Images)A fight 10 years in the making decides who owns Cinco de Mayo going forward<\/p>\n For decades, the face of the sport has typically headlined one of the most significant boxing weekends, Cinco de Mayo, regardless of whether they had Mexican lineage, like Oscar De La Hoya, or didn\u2019t, like Floyd Mayweather Jr. \u2014 or, more recently, Naoya Inoue<\/a>.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Following Mayweather\u2019s retirement from the sport, Saul \u201cCanelo\u201d Alvarez carried the fight game on his stocky shoulders. And though this year he\u2019ll be noticeably absent from the ring<\/a>, Alvarez\u2019s trainer\/manager Eddy Reynoso said the former four-division champ will attend the T-Mobile Arena as a spectator to support his stablemate, Jaime Munguia.<\/p>\n With 68 pro fights and multiple world title wins, 12.28 million pay-per-view sales and close to $1 billion in box office revenue, few are as decorated or as rich as \u201cCanelo.\u201d\u00a0Eddie Hearn even told Uncrowned once that Alvarez now has \u201cmore money than God.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"LAS](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c84d2117-a8e2-46b6-8739-1abd816f8f47.jpeg\"\/)
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