Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya says he\u2019s interested in a fight between unified two-belt cruiserweight champion Gilberto \u2018Zurdo\u2019 Ramirez against David Benavidez in 2026 after Zurdo\u2019s tune-up in January or February.<\/p>\n
Benavidez Named as the Target<\/p>\n
For De La Hoya to be targeting a fight between \u2018Zurdo\u2019 Ramirez and \u2018The Mexican Monster\u2019 Benavidez instead of IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia suggests that the Golden Boy promoter doesn\u2019t fancy his fighter Zurdo\u2019s chances in a unification.<\/p>\n
Opetaia Unification Ignored<\/p>\n
So, instead of going for the fight that the fans have been interested in, De La Hoya is pushing for the Ramirez vs. Benavidez clash. Without Ramirez facing Opetaia, it would give the appearance of a cash-out for the 34-year-old \u2018Zurdo,\u2019 who has looked below average in his last two fights against Yuniel Dorticos and Chris Billiam-Smith.<\/p>\n
The 34-year-old WBA and WBO cruiserweight champion Ramirez (48-1, 30 KOs) will be returning from shoulder surgery following his narrow 12-round unanimous decision win over Cuban \u2018The KO Doctor\u2019 Dorticos on June 28, 2025, in Anaheim, California.<\/p>\n
Dorticos Fight Raised Red Flags<\/p>\n
Ramirez did not look impressive in that fight, eating heavy headshots throughout against the 39-year-old Dorticos. Age-wise, Dorticos looked like the younger fighter than Ramirez in that fight.<\/p>\n
It was a similar performance from \u2018Zurdo\u2019 to how he fought in his previous bout against Chris Billiam-Smith on November 16, 2024, in Riyadh.\u00a0Ramirez was forced to use movement to win a decision after getting hit with everything but the kitchen sink from the British fighter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to see him back healthy, first and foremost,\u201d De La Hoya, chairman of Golden Boy, told DAZN via Boxingscene<\/a>. \u201cI want to see him back in the ring in January or February. Who knows, maybe Zurdo [Ramirez] vs. David Benavidez,\u201d said De La Hoya.<\/p>\n Oscar\u2019s Safety Net Strategy<\/p>\n Ramirez doesn\u2019t look capable of beating Jai Opetaia. So, it would be foolish for Oscar to let him anywhere near him. Jai is like a hungry Kodiak bear right now. The end result of letting a vulnerable, easy-to-hit Ramirez in with him is predictable. He would be food for Opetaia, and it wouldn\u2019t be pretty to watch the feeding.<\/p>\n Chris Williams can perfectly understand why De La Hoya would want to pull the trigger on the Ramirez vs. Benavidez fight rather than waiting until \u2018Zurdo\u2019 faces Opetaia. The way Ramirez has looked in his recent fights, he would stand very little chance of beating Opetaia (28-0, 22 KOs) or even being competitive with him. Not just recently, though.<\/p>\n Ramirez has never looked good enough to beat a talent like Opetaia during his career. That\u2019s the way I see it. So, from a promoter\u2019s perspective, it makes perfect sense why De La Hoya is now talking about his interest in making the Benavidez fight for Ramirez rather than the Opetaia clash after Zurdo\u2019s January or February tune-up in 2026.<\/p>\n Having Ramirez take the fight with Benavidez after a soft warm-up fight will hurt the interest in the fight. It would be a much bigger promotion if De La Hoya waited until after Ramirez faces Opetaia to match him against Benavidez.<\/p>\n Of course, in realistic terms, it\u2019ll be pointless to make that move, given Ramirez\u2019s dim chances of beating Opetaia. If he gets destroyed by the Australian native Jai, whatever fan interest that was there for a Benavidez-Ramirez fight will evaporate.<\/p>\n Chris Williams is a senior writer for Boxing News 24, covering the sport since 2013 and reporting ringside from major events worldwide. His coverage dives into both established champions and hungry prospects battling for recognition. Over the years, Chris has contributed to numerous leading boxing outlets, earning respect for his sharp analysis and insider perspective.<\/p>\n Boxing News 24<\/a> \u00bb – An Analyst’s Perspective<\/a> \u00bb Oscar De La Hoya Targets Gilberto \u2018Zurdo\u2019 Ramirez vs. David Benavidez in 2026 After January or February Tune-Up<\/p>\n Last Updated on 11\/09\/2025 \t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya says he\u2019s interested in a fight between unified two-belt cruiserweight champion…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":253805,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-253804","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}