David Benavidez is one night away from beating Saul \u2018Canelo\u2019 Alvarez without even getting in the ring with him.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s all because, on Saturday, May 2 atop a Premier Boxing Champions card on Prime Video pay-per-view at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, he rises to the cruiserweight division to take on the unified champion, Gilberto \u2018Zurdo\u2019 Ramirez.<\/p>\n
The fight is significant not just because it pits two warriors alongside one another in an all-Mexican shootout, but because the winner could stamp his claim on the Cinco de Mayo date going forward.<\/p>\n
It all comes at a time when Canelo\u2019s significance in global boxing wanes at 35 years old, with 68 fights behind him, and a 2025 that saw him take on unheralded fighter William Scull before losing all his titles to Terence Crawford.<\/p>\n
The Mexican legend\u2019s absence from Cinco de Mayo this year is noticeable, not least because it allows two of his compatriots to take center stage and, possibly, determine who owns the date going forward.<\/p>\n
This, while Canelo appears set to return on Mexican Independence Day, instead.<\/p>\n
But, when speaking to Boxing Social, Benavidez told editor Alan Dawson that he\u2019s gunning for that date, too \u2014 just not, perhaps, this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Floyd and Manny might be fighting on that date this year\u201d in Vegas, he told me when I asked about ways in which he could, as a rapidly-emerging face of North American boxing, tighten his grip on the region\u2019s key dates.<\/p>\n
Next year, he said, is different. He wants the weekends closest to May 5 and September 16.<\/p>\n
One way to do that, Boxing Social suggested, would be to team up once again with PBC stablemate Gervonta \u2018Tank\u2019 Davis.<\/p>\n
The boxers shared a bill to create a memorable doubleheader when Benavidez fought Oleksandr Gvozdyk in a co-feature to support Tank\u2019s main event against Frank Martin. Both Benavidez and Davis won their respective fights and, when on stage speaking to Boxing Social and other reporters, made it clear they would share a card again \u2014 with Tank on the co-feature to support a Benavidez main event.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that would be a great idea,\u201d he said, though stressed it \u201cmight be hard to go up against\u201d the Mayweather vs Pacquiao rematch if that indeed goes ahead in September. Boxing Scene\u2019s Lance Pugmire recently reported, though, that the fight might be brought forward to August, instead.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking into the future, I\u2019m capitalizing on May and September cards,\u201d he told us. \u201cIf we can collaborate with other great fighters, it\u2019s not only good for us but for boxing as a whole. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to take it to the little kids and how to motivate them,\u201d the 28-year-old two-weight champion said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was little I loved watching the big fights, and events. Imagine if we had Benavidez, Tank, and Ryan Garcia on one card. That\u2019s a gift we have to give back to the fans. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in the driver\u2019s seat. We want that to happen, and we can make it happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
From One Bad Mother-F****** to Another<\/p>\n
Dawson has long said Benavidez is boxing\u2019s closest equivalent to UFC\u2019s Baddest Mother-F***** in the game \u2014 a mythical title first contested by authentic hispanic fan-favorites Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz.<\/p>\n
And in recent years Benavidez has built a friendship with Diaz, whom he linked up with earlier in the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cNate Diaz represents BMF to the fullest,\u201d he told us. \u201cHe\u2019s a great guy. I\u2019ve seen him, in the same gyms and stuff. We\u2019ve been working together and I\u2019ve been supporting him for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for \u2018Tank\u2019, Benavidez, at the time of speaking with Boxing Social, was yet to rekindle his relationship with Davis. But it was mainly because of where they are both situated in the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said to hit him up if I was ever in California and I\u2019ve been in Miami, Phoenix \u2026 I haven\u2019t had contact, but when I get to Vegas, I\u2019m definitely going to hit him up because he was going to get some work in with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perhaps when they get that work in they\u2019ll talk about a way they can share a second fight card in the near future.<\/p>\n