Author: Sean Crose

“I feel regenerated, mighty and more motivated than ever,” the World Boxing Council quotes Carlos Adames. “On March 21, the world will see why I am one of the most solid names at 160 pounds. I don’t just come to fight; I come to send a clear message and I will bring victory to the Dominican Republic.”

If Adames defeats Austin Williams at Caribe Royal Stadium in Orlando next weekend, his compatriots will have every reason to be ecstatic. After all, he is the WBC middleweight champion. If Adames is victorious in front of the DAZN cameras this weekend, the WBC green title will still be his.

But first he has to really overtake Williams… not an uncomplicated task. “I’ve been working my whole life for this moment,” William’s said. “Delaying the fight only gave me more time to prepare better. I respect what Adames represents, but now my time has come and I promise that on Saturday night I will go out with my hand raised.”

Williams actually seems eager to meet the challenges posed by Adames. “He will push me in a way that allows me to show different parts of myself,” Williams told Ring magazine. “It will allow me to reach the level of excitement of taking a world championship away from someone.”

The truth is, this is an captivating world title fight in a division that has seen better days. Once the glamor division of boxing or one of them, the middleweight division is definitely in need of some fresh stars. It’s unclear whether Adames or Williams will be able to fill that void. With that in mind, it would be nice to get excited about the middleweight world again. No doubt Adames and Williams intend to do their part.

Indeed, neither Adames nor Williams are particularly lifeless fighters, which means Saturday’s fight should be captivating. This fight clearly means a lot to both men, so you can expect them to put it all on the line. After all, entire futures are at stake. This kind of thing is good for fight fans, although it is undoubtedly very stressful for the fighters. However, boxing is a stressful profession and such things are to be expected. In compact, it could mean an stimulating Saturday night of fighting.

The undefeated contender, who helped Manny Pacquiao prepare for his fight with Mario Barrios, presented his version of the Filipino’s rematch with Floyd Mayweather.

More than ten years after their first meeting, both heavyweight champions will face each other on September 19 at the Sphere in Las Vegas.

As expected, many favor Mayweather’s technical brilliance and defensive mastery, especially considering the convincing nature of his points victory over “Pac Man” in 2015.

However, at the age of 49, it remains to be seen whether the five-weight world champion will be able to achieve equally impressive results.

As for Pacquiao, it’s fair to say he exceeded most expectations when he fought to a controversial draw with Barrios last July.

Barrios was the defending WBC welterweight champion at the time, but Pacquiao gave him everything he could handle and probably deserved the win.

One man who has gone multiple rounds with the eight-time lightweight world champion during this camp is lightweight prospect Samuel Contreras, who gave the 47-year-old a slight edge over Mayweather in his interview. Fighting the noise.

“I think it’ll be a good fight – they’re about the same age. I can’t wait to see it and hopefully I’ll get there [Pacquiao’s] camp again.

“I would bet on Manny not only because I was at camp with him; I just really like the way he fights, how [much of] a wise warrior and what a wise one he is [much of] he is a hardworking man.”

Before the fight with Barrios, Pacquiao had not fought professionally since 2021, when he was still fighting he lost by unanimous decision to Yordenis Ugas.

Meanwhile, Mayweather’s last professional fight can hardly be considered a credible fight, considering it ended with a 10th-round victory over Conor McGregor in 2017.

Earlier, the American defeated Andre Berto by unanimous decision, and now he is preparing to put his 50-0 (27 KO) record on the line.

Premier Boxing Champions has faced a lot of criticism since moving from Showtime to Amazon Prime Video – lower production, inconsistent schedule, episodes where boxing’s deepest squad sat idly while the rest of the sport raced to the front. The Cinco de Mayo weekend card that PBC is preparing on May 2 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas is a direct response to all of this.

Undefeated two-division world champion David “El Monstro” Benavidez (31-0, 25 KO) will move up to 200 pounds to face unified WBA and WBO cruiserweight champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramírez (48-1, 30 KO) in the main event. PBC payment available on Prime Videowith DAZN.com also streaming. PBC announced the full undercard on Wednesday, adding a WBA super middleweight world title fight as the co-main event and two additional all-Mexican fights to a lineup that now rivals anything the promotion has assembled since arriving on Prime Video.

Main Event: Benavidez chases history at cruiserweight

Benavidez-Zurdo is a fight that grew out of years of fighting in the gym. The two sparred extensively, and both spoke publicly about these sessions with the mutual respect that usually means the rounds were real. Benavidez admitted as much at a February press conference in Las Vegas: “We had so many great sparring sessions and I told Zurdo then that one day we would have to do it on pay-per-view. Now we fight for two titles on May 2.”

For Benavidez, the stakes go well beyond adding a third division title to his collection – although that in itself would be significant. The 29-year-old from Phoenix became the youngest ever super middleweight world champion at the age of 20, defeating Ronald Gavril for the vacant WBC belt in 2017. He lost the title twice outside the ring – once to a positive cocaine test, once to the scale – and has rebuilt his career with a resume that leaves no room for debate. Caleb Plant via unanimous decision. Demetrius Andrade stopped in the sixth place. Oleksandr Gvozdyk dethroned in the fight for the WBC lithe heavyweight title. David Morrell Jr., undefeated at the time, scored the unification bout. Anthony Yarde was demolished in seven years during its last outing last November in Riyad.

Now he bypasses the likely path to Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev at 175 to jump into Ramírez’s 25-pound division. His father and coach, Jose Benavidez Sr., put the move in characteristically blunt terms: “David Benavidez doesn’t just have to win, he also has to show up to prove he can beat the Bivols and Beterbievs.”

Ramírez, 34, from Mazatlán, Sinaloa, earned his position the classic way — by going where the lanes are. He held the WBO super middleweight title for two years beginning in 2016, making five defenses, including two wins over Jesse Hart and victories over then-undefeated challengers Alexis Angulo and Habib Ahmed. His only loss was to Bivol in the lithe heavyweight division in 2022. Instead of staying at 175 pounds and fighting for what’s left, Ramírez moved up to cruiserweight and quickly took over the division, winning the WBA title by unanimous decision over Arsene Goulamirian in March 2024 and adding the WBO belt by defeating Chris Billam-Smith in November. He defended both teams last June against former champion Yuniel Dorticos before undergoing shoulder surgery. Benavidez will be his first opponent upon his return.

The matchup is historically unprecedented: the first-ever Mexican-Mexican championship fight to be held at over 168 pounds. The combined record of Benavidez and Ramírez is 79-1, with 55 knockouts. Both are comfortable at range and inside, and both possess the strength and power that tend to produce fights that fans remember. Ramírez has the size, experience at the weight and a championship pedigree at 200. Benavidez has the speed, the engine and a growing sense that he is close to becoming the face of the sport.

“I feel like I’m one step away from becoming the face of boxing,” Benavidez said at a news conference. “And if Zurdo wins, his stock will soar. Greatness awaits us on the other side of the tunnel.”

Card With Depth

On Wednesday, PBC rounded out the understated card with three fights that reflect real investment in the event, not filler.

The co-main event will be a legal fight for the world title. WBA super middleweight champion Armando “Toro” Reséndiz (16-2, 11 KO) will make his first defense against former 154-pound world champion Jaime Munguía (45-2, 35 KO). Reséndiz (27) won the belt in a painful way — upsetting Caleb Plant by split decision last May during a performance in which he defeated the former champion 186-108, according to CompuBox. Trained by Manny Robles, the Nayarit native displayed relentless pressure and bodywork that exhausted technically superior opponents. Munguía, 29, of Tijuana, is one of Mexico’s most popular energetic fighters – a former 154-pound titleholder with five defenses and a reputation as a crowd pleaser. He failed to make an undisputed title shot against Canelo Alvarez in 2024, but a victory over Reséndiz would have made him a two-division champion and put him back in the world title talks at 168.

Oscar Duarte (30-2-1, 23 KOs), a 30-year-old from Parral, Chihuahua who is knocking on the door at 140 pounds, will face powerful Tijuana brawler Angel Fierro (23-4-2, 18 KOs) in a 10-round super lightweight bout. Duarte is on a four-fight winning streak and was scheduled to face IBF champion Richardson Hitchins before an illness on fight day ended his chance. Fierro is coming off a February 2025 war with Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz that has been on many fight of the year lists.

The first pay-per-view bout features two undefeated Mexican fighters: Isaac “Puro México” Lucero (18-0, 14 KO) vs. Alan Sandoval (30-0-1, 19 KO) in a 10-round super welterweight fight. Sandoval, who has defeated 13 of his last 14 opponents, will make his U.S. debut. At least one additional undercard fight is expected to be announced.

PBC Statement on Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo weekend in Las Vegas has been the most valuable real estate in sports for decades, a tradition built by Oscar De La Hoya, Julio César Chávez and most recently expanded by Canelo Alvarez’s decade-long reign. With Canelo sidelined by injury, the holiday’s calling card was the open field, and PBC ran into it.

The event is co-promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and Sampson Boxing in association with TGB Promotions, a cross-promotional arrangement that reflects the realities of current boxing dealmaking. “I am very excited about Cinco de Mayo weekend this year,” said Oscar De La Hoya. “These guys have 55 knockouts under their belt. They won’t bore the crowd. They’ll put on a show.”

It is worth paying attention to the distribution configuration. The PPV will be available on Prime Video – PBC’s home platform – but also on DAZN.com, a first for PBC. In a sport where platform fragmentation remains the biggest obstacle to fan engagement, staging the same PPV on two major streaming services is a practical concession to reality. Conventional cable and satellite TV ordering remains possible as well. The consumer still pays the PPV price regardless of platform, but the additional access point through DAZN – which currently includes Matchroom, Queensberry, Golden Boy and Top Rank – expands the potential audience.

The May 2 event comes five weeks after PBC’s March 28 PPV, headlined by Sebastian Fundora vs. Keith Thurman at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Two pay-per-view main events in five weeks is the kind of schedule that PBC critics have deemed necessary for the promotion. Whether this marks a lasting change or a seasonal blowout remains to be seen, but the product PBC will present for Cinco de Mayo weekend — undefeated pound-for-pound divisional contenders set to challenge the unified champion, a co-main event for the world title and a pan-Mexico support at T-Mobile Arena on the most iconic weekend in sports — is the strongest argument the promotion has made for itself since arriving on Prime Video.

The pay-per-view service starts at 8:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM PT.