Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez promises a big party and a great performance for fans in his clash with fellow Mexican David Benavidez. The two former sparring partners square off on Saturday, May 2, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Ramirez (48-1, 30 KOs) faces Benavidez (31-0, 25 KOs) in a Mexico vs. Mexico showdown, headlining a PBC PPV on Prime Video during Cinco de Mayo weekend.
Two-division world champion “Zurdo” Ramirez of Mazatlán, Sinaloa, makes the second defense of his unified WBA and WBO cruiserweight titles. In the lead-up to his first world title fight against Arthur Abraham in 2016, the 34-year-old sparred with Benavidez before going on to successfully claim the WBO super middleweight title on fight night.
Phoenix, Arizona native Benavidez once again moves up a weight class and looks to become a three-division world champion. Earlier in his career, the 29-year-old held both the WBC super middleweight and light heavyweight titles.
‘I’ve thought about fighting David for about 10 years’
“It’s an honor to be in this position,” Ramirez said. “You have to be a great fighter and a big name to headline Cinco de Mayo Weekend. Now it’s my time.”
“Fighting another Mexican is extra motivation. We’re making history. There’s never been a fight like this between Mexican fighters this big. It’s going to be an amazing night. We’re going to leave everything we have in the ring.”
“Our sparring sessions would have been a great pay-per-view. We both know that each of us has a lot of skill that we’ll be bringing into the ring. But I’ve also grown a lot as a fighter since we sparred. I’ve gotten a lot more experience that I’m gonna take into this fight.”
“I’ve thought about fighting David for about 10 years. I think we both wanted to fight each other for that long. Now the time is almost here. David is a great fighter. I’ve been watching him a lot over the years and keeping an eye on him, knowing that one day we’d get in there together.”
“I think my last two performances [against Yuniel Dorticos and Chris Billam-Smith] have been good, but they’re not as great as this performance will be. This is going to be a war. We’re going to give all the Mexican people a big party on May 2.”
On the Benavidez vs. Zurdo undercard, Armando Resendiz (16-2, 11 KOs) defends his WBA super middleweight title in a 12-round bout against former super welterweight champion Jaime Munguia (45-2, 35 KOs).
Isaac Lucero (18-0, 14 KOs) and unbeaten Alan Sandoval (30-0-1, 19 KOs) battle in a 10-round super welterweight contest.
Oscar Duarte (30-2-1, 23 KOs) and Angel Fierro (23-4-2, 18 KOs) meet in a 10-round super lightweight matchup.
The Benavidez vs. Zurdo prelims are expected to be announced shortly.