LAS VEGAS – They call him the “Monster” and on Saturday night offered his scariest exhibition. David Benavídez gained 25 pounds to challenge Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramírez for the cruiserweight crown (WBA, WBO) and knocked him out in six rounds to remain undefeated in professional boxing.

David Benavídez (32-0, 26 KO) has now been champion in the super-middleweight, light heavyweight and cruiserweight divisions, a rarity in boxing.

After the victory, Benavídez said: “I saw Canelo in the arena. Do you guys want to see that fight?”, causing the reaction of the public in the Arena T-Mobile. “Nobody can fuck… with the Monster.”

Benavidez was the first to connect with a series of right hands in the first round and later with an electrifying combination in which he showed off his quick hands. In the second, “Monster” shook Ramírez’s head and brought the crowd to its feet, closing with another of his flurries. And in the next round, Benavídez raised his punching volume against a very stiff man.

And that set the table for round 4, in which Benavídez beaten the Mexican with whom years back he had been sparring. It was an incessant punishment culminated by a left so the Sinaloan giant slowly went to the canvas by putting a knee on the ground. He survived when the bell rang just after receiving the protection count.

Ramírez, however, recovered quite a bit in the 5 and matched what up until then was a one-sided fight. But it was a matter of time. In the sixth, Benavídez waited for his moment and with his nth r flurry of blows to the head injured the “Zurdo”, who possibly complained of a serious injury and seconds later knelt. He couldn't get up in the agony of the round having destroyed his right eye.

Canelo Álvarez made present

The fight didn't fill the T-Mobile Arena in a city that has suffered in recent years from a lack of tourists, but it attracted boxing figures, including Mike Tyson, Tommy Hearns, Ryan Garcia and Canelo Alvarez.

The tapatío, who usually heads the Cinco de Mayo billboard, appeared wearing a black shirt with the name of Jaime Mungu It was a show of support for the man whom he defeated two years ago on the same stage and who is trained by Eddy Reynoso.

“It’s going to be a good fight,” Álvarez limited himself to saying about the main fight of the evening when being interviewed by Jim Gray before the co-feature fight and anticipated that Benavídez was his favorite to win. Canelo wasn't wrong, nor were the bookmakers, who had the man born in Phoenix favorite with odds of -400.

Later, Canelo sat down at ringside and kept yelling at Munguía during his good performance against Armando Reséndiz in the co-feature.

The winner of the “Mexican Monster”

David Benavídez, now with a record 32-0, was crowned super-middleweight champion of the World Boxing Council(WBC) in 2017 by defeating Ronald Gavril and made a defense. After a doping sanction, reconquered the interim scepter in 2019 with a victory over Anthony Dirrell and defended him once.

In 2022, the Phoenix man obtained the interim WBC super middleweight title with a victory over David Lemiex and made two successful defences.

And then in 2024, Benavídez rose to light heavyweight and won the interim WBC crown after beating Oleksandr Gvozdyk. He fought against David Morrell, with whom he unified the WBA band, and in his previous presentation he beaten Anthony Yarde in Arabia.

And now he is crowned as a new 200 pound king to take another step in his powerful career.

Gilberto Ramírez, for his part, falls to 48-2.

El from Mazatlán was crowned WBO super-middleweight champion in 2017 with a triumph over Arthur Abraham and defended him five times.

In 2024, “Zurdo” made history by defeating Chris Billam-Smith to become the first Mexican to win the world cruiserweight title. That WBO scepter was defended once by the heavy June against Yuniel Dórticos.