boxing<\/a> and I watch big fights,\u201d Ramirez continued. \u201cHe did a pretty good job; he\u2019s been doing well \u2026 the day that we trained together, we knew that this time would come. Those sparring sessions were pay-per-view. Now is the right time and the right moment to put everything that we did and show the people real boxing.\u201d<\/p>\nGilberto Ramirez will have to overcome the odds against David Benavidez![\"David](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01jp0fj6kxxpfxy4fh6c.jpg\" "\\"David")
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David Benavidez | IMAGO \/ ZUMA Press Wire<\/p>\n
Gilberto Ramirez has been the unified cruiserweight champion since defeating Chris Billiam-Smith by unanimous decision in 2024, yet he\u2019s coming into this fight against David Benavidez as an underdog.<\/p>\n
Benavidez is ranked at seven on the Ring Magazine pound-for-pound rankings, and the odds reflect his position. He\u2019s a -430 favorite, while Ramirez is +300. Ramirez hasn\u2019t entered a fight as an underdog since his decision loss to pound-for-pound star Dmitry Bivol in 2022.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll have to make plan A, plan B, and plan C in training and in sparring,\u201d Ramirez said. \u201cI\u2019ll need to match the different energy, with boxing or with going forward. It\u2019s part of my job to be in the office another day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Benavidez\u2019s pressure will be the biggest obstacle for Ramirez to overcome. Benavidez is an offense-first, come-forward fighter. In his last fight against Anthony Yarde, Benavidez stopped the British fighter with a barrage of violent left hooks.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to have skill, you have to have that mentality and that heart,\u201d Ramirez said. \u201cYou also need the balls to do it. To match everything and be better, to be really smart in the ring.<\/p>\n
While \u201cZurdo\u201d might not be favored against Benavidez, he has the confidence and experience in his mind to get the job done.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\")
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Gilberto \u201cZurdo\u201d Ramirez defends his WBA and WBO cruiserweight titles against David Benavidez on May 2, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":626190,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,82],"class_list":["post-626189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=626189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/626190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=626189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=626189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=626189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Zurdo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01kq0ervj5y2zetn0dyd.jpg\" "\\"Zurdo")
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