And now we have a date and location, with ESPN reporting that the bout is expected to go down on May 2, 2026, inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. That date is a popular one for Mexican fighters seeing as how it is Cinco de Mayo weekend, and Canelo Alvarez usually locks it down for his big fights; however, he won’t be competing anytime soon as he recovers from recent surgery (details here).
Benavidez (31-0) is the current WBC and WBA Light Heavyweight champion and has 25 knockouts on his resume, taking out the likes of Caleb Plant and David Morrell along the way. The big knock on Benavidez is that he has yet to secure a noteworthy notch on his belt; however, it has not been for a lack of trying, as “The Mexican Monster” has been adamant that Canelo has been ducking him for some time now. And a win over Ramirez would be huge for his resume, making him champion in three separate weight classes.
As for Ramirez, he owns a record of 48-1 with 30 knockouts. Like Benavidez, “Zurdo” has been criticized for his lack of big name conquests, coming up short in one of his biggest challenges against Dmitry Bivol, which wound up being his first (and only) defeat to date.