Boxing

Roy Jones sees one path for Gilberto Ramirez to beat David Benavidez

Published

6 months ago

April 22, 2026

Image: David Benavidez vs. Zurdo Ramirez: A Mexican War

Benavidez created the same problem for opponent after opponent. Players may be competitive at the beginning, but few maintain that level once the rounds are over.

“Guys are having good rounds, they’re not putting up good fights with him. Ultimately, they get exhausted mentally, physically and emotionally, and David Benavidez takes over and gets his hand raised,” Jones told the Hall of Game.

This became a key advantage for Benavidez. His pressure doesn’t always lend a hand in the first few minutes, but it often changes the entire fight when opponents start reacting instead of working.

But Jones doesn’t see Ramirez as a helpless underdog. He cited the Mexican southerner’s experience, length and consistent style as reasons why the fight could become arduous if Benavidez is unable to break him down early.

“If Zordo Ramirez can weather these storms without taking too much of a penalty and keeping the ball tight on defense, he has a chance,” Jones said.

Ramirez has won titles in multiple divisions and has shown that he can fight at a pace without missing many rounds. This can make a difference against an opponent who thrives when rallies become rushed and tumultuous.

Gilberto Ramirez has spent the last few years acclimating to the higher weight classes, and his cruiserweight frame is naturally broader than what David Benavidez faced.

However, Benavidez’s punishment against Oleksandr Gvozdyk and David Morrell Jr. was obvious. Although he won both fights by unanimous decision, those victories were different from his 168 search-and-destroy streak.

In his lithe heavyweight debut against Gwozdyk, Benavidez admitted to suffering a torn ligament in his hand and a cut that forced him to box more conservatively. He dominated the first half, but his punch stats showed a significant sharpening in the later rounds.

Benavidez outscored Gvozdyk 107 to 57 in rounds 1 through 5. That gap narrowed to a much smaller 116 to 106 in the final seven rounds.

The match against Morrell was a close one, with Morrell’s athleticism and strength forcing Benavidez to take weighty shots. Even though the scorecards were clear (118-108, 115-111, 115-111), Benavidez finished the fight with a better result than usual.

The jump to fight Ramirez for the cruiserweight title represents a 25-pound escalate over Benavidez’s longtime home at super middleweight. Critics say that if Gvozdyk and Morrell were able to find openings at 175, a naturally bigger champion like Ramirez would have the stamina to ignore the “Monsters” volume and land more counter punches.

Ramirez thrives when he can apply his reach to keep opponents on the receiving end of his punches. The gigantic question is: Will Ramirez be able to move enough to actually stay out of the line of fire? Since moving up to cruiserweight, his footwork and ability to turn opponents around has been surprisingly excellent.

In his victories over Arsene Goulamirian and Chris Billam-Smith, he used his 180 cm frame to reset the distance each time the situation became more arduous. However, David Benavidez is a completely different animal than Billam-Smith.

While Ramirez’s moves looked great against fighters attacking in a straight line, Benavidez is a master at cutting down the ring and throwing combinations that catch fighters even as they try to move away.

Ramirez tried to apply the move in his match against Dmitry Bivol at 175 pounds and we saw how it went. He was unable to maintain the technical rhythm and ultimately lost by clear decision. Benavidez isn’t as trim as Bivol, but his pressure is much more physically taxing.

Robert Segal is a boxing reporter at Boxing News 24 with over a decade of experience covering fight news, previews and analysis. Known for his first-hand reporting and in-ring perspective, he delivers authoritative coverage of champions, challengers and emerging talent from around the world.

Boxing

WBO Denies Denzel Bentleys Appeal; Must Face Yoenli Hernandez or Vacate Title

Published

14 hours ago

October 22, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

"WBO Denies Denzel Bentley’s Appeal; Must Face Yoenli Hernandez or Vacate Title"

Another day, another Zuffa signee losing his belt for shirking his responsibilities. WBO president Gustavo Olivieri announced that the sanctioning body has denied middleweight champion Denzel Bentley’s appeal for a voluntary defense, giving him 24 hours to commit to facing mandatory challenger Yoenli Hernandez.

Bentley (22-3-1, 18 KO) was the beneficiary of Janibek Alimkhanuly’s failed drug test and subsequent emigration to the super middleweight division, as the move elevated the interim belt he’d claimed against Endry Saavendra in April to the real deal. That came with conditions, namely a mandated showdown with Hernandez (11-0, 9 KO) that failed to produce a a contract.

As for who’ll fight Hernandez for it, Vito Mielnicki Jr sits behind him at no. 2, followed by an otherwise-occupied Tim TszyuMichael Zerafa (lmao), and Fiodor Czerkaszyn. We’ll let you know as soon as an enterprising bachelor steps up.

Boxing

WBO Denies Denzel Bentleys Appeal; Orders Showdown with Yoenli Hernandez or Vacate Title

Published

14 hours ago

October 22, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

"WBO Denies Denzel Bentley's Appeal; Orders Showdown with Yoenli Hernandez or Vacate Title"

Boxing

Bob Arum Comments on Zuffa Boxings Position as Saudis Scale Back Involvement

Published

15 hours ago

October 22, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

Bob Arum Comments on Zuffa Boxing's Position as Saudis Scale Back Involvement

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is back on the scene with a new knee! And now that he’s getting around again, he was able to catch up with Fight Hub TV to give his perspective on what’s been going on in the boxing business as of late, particularly as it pertains to Zuffa Boxing who appear to be in a state of flux. Check out what he had to say below!

Arum on Zuffa’s place in boxing landscape

“When you look at Zuffa, they are hoping to do what they’re doing with Saudi money and the Saudis have poured a lot of money into the sport and for a while were backing Zuffa, so Zuffa felt emboldened to offer big [money] to good fighters like Shakur Stevenson. Now, apparently the Saudis, Turki and Sela have gotten the word from up high in Saudi Arabia, ‘hey, this money is not going to be unlimited, you’ve got to cut down,’ or there’s no money — I don’t know what they’ve told them.

“So the Saudis are clearly pulling back and who knows if they’re going to be involved in boxing after this year. They’ve already, apparently, sold Ring Magazine to DAZN. So, if the Saudi money isn’t there, Zuffa is not going to spend its own money to promote fights because they have announced to their shareholders that they would not do that. And if they start doing it, then they leave themselves open to a major shareholder suit.

“So, again, we have to see what’s going to happen. There’s no animosity, people are doing what they feel is best for them and that’s business. How this all turns out, we’re going to have to see next year and the years after that.”

On whether he thinks Zuffa has done a good job thus far

“What does it mean to have done a good job? If somebody gave me a barrel of money to put on fights, would I be doing a good job? Sure. But anybody would be doing a good job. I mean, give Oscar this kind of money, give Eddie this kind of money.

“So it’s not a question of a good job, the question is can they make matches having a limited budget that is limited by the financial viability of the fight, not what somebody from the outside is pouring into it. That’s doing a big, good job — making it work for them, for the public, for the fighters without the fighters outside help putting in all this money without any way to get it back.”

On Shakur splitting with Zuffa before one fight together

“Once they realized there was no money coming from the Saudis to fund a $15M fight deal, then what do you do? If you can get out of that contract, you get out of it. Did they get out, did it cost them any money to get out? I don’t know. But, again, to pay Shakur $15M…financially it’s not viable. So, it is what it is. And once the Saudis really left the message that they got the word from The Boss that this unlimited tap is going to stop, it was bound to happen.”

On the Shakur vs Devin fight falling apart

“The fight fell apart, but essentially it fell apart is because DAZN had promised [Devin] Haney a certain amount of money, Zuffa had promised Shakur a certain amount of money, and it wasn’t a match because that money didn’t exist in the fight that they would have…Would the fight have justified the money being put up? Because otherwise nobody wants to break their ass doing a fight, promoting a fight, and ending up facing an absolute possibility that you’re going to lose money.”

On his prediction for the business once the Saudi money evaporates

“Looking at the past when this happened, and in boxing it happens all the time, the market then settles and fighters fight for what’s available and we get some very good fights that still go on and life continues. But how it’s going to come out after this, where we had so much money being put into the sport not existing, how is the sport going to continue? It’s going to continue, but how is it going to continue, I don’t know.

“Remember, [Al] Haymon came in when he had that deal with the mutual fund with hundreds of millions of dollars, and all he accomplished was pissing it away. So, again, I have the experience and I’ve been around enough not to say definitively what’s going to happen because I don’t know like nobody else does. I have an idea but again, it’s just an idea and not worth talking about. All I know is that the sport will continue, there will be great fights being made. How everybody will be compensated remains to be seen but that’s in the future.“

On Ryan Garcia saying he’s going to fight Floyd Mayweather for the WBC title

“Will people be interested in it? I don’t know. I know Floyd [Mayweather] needs the money ‘cause he’s pissed away tons of the money that he made. I mean, he blames Haymon for that, he blames this for that, but ultimately I blame him for pissing it away. Will Garcia vs Mayweather generate money? Will it generate enough money to satisfy these guys? I don’t know. I think there will be limited interest in a fight where you have a young guy at the peak of his boxing prowess fighting an old man, which Mayweather has now become.”

On the Eddie Hearn vs Dana White beef over promoting Fury vs AJ, and Hearn insisting White can’t be involved

“Well, that’s right. Eddie [Hearn] is correct. Frank [Warren] and I have a contract with [Tyson] FuryEddie has a contract with [Anthony] Joshua. Dana has a contract with nobody. But if Dana wanted to be involved with the fight, be my guest. I mean, the money is the money. The Saudis are putting up the bulk of the money in that fight. They’ll do a good gate, get back some of it. But again, what do I care? What should anybody care?”