They are both aware of the history of the legendary Mexican fighters of the past who fought on the memorable weekend date. They now seek to create their legacy and give fans a fight for the ages.
Benavidez spoke on the significance of having a fight on Cinco De Mayo weekend, “For the whole history of the Cinco De Mayo fights, it’s been tremendous fighters like Oscar [De La Hoya], Julio Cesar Chavez, putting on great fights.
Not only were they great fights, but they were also wars because they were paired-up fights. They didn’t take any easy fights. This is symbolically what it symbolizes, May 5, symbolizes two warriors, and now it’s more special because it’s two Mexican warriors going at it for a title.”
There are many who believe the winner of this match will be the face of Mexican boxing and will eventually take the throne from Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
These fighters have a history together, having sparred with each other numerous times. None more memorable than when Benavidez helped Ramirez prepare for his first career championship against Arthur Abraham.
Those who witnessed those sparring sessions say they were pay-per-view worthy rounds. They knew then they would eventually meet in the ring, but didn’t expect it to be at cruiserweight. At this weight, both fighters feel more comfortable in terms of not having to cut weight as much.
When asked who would have the power advantage at this weight, Zurdo said, “I believe it’s the same. It’s not an advantage or disadvantage; he simply feels more comfortable with his body [at this weight]. I believe that’s why he feels ready to move up in division.”
Those sparring sessions were at an open weight, which is very similar to the cruiserweight level they’ll fight in at fight night.
This will be Gilberto’s fifth fight at cruiserweight, a division in which he’s undefeated. His only loss came against Dmitry Bivol at light heavyweight. A fight, Zurdo says, helped him grow and develop as a fighter.
David also has familiarity with Bivol, having had many sparring sessions with him in which he feels he got the better of him. He’d like to fight him in the ring for the titles, but did not want to wait for Bivol to be ready. He instead chose to move up and strive for greatness.
“There was nothing else for me at 175 right now. I could have sat down and waited on the sidelines and wait for Bivol to have his tune-up and then another fight, but like I said, I’m not interested in that. I been professional 13 years…I’ve been wanting to get the biggest fights possible. I’ve been denied a couple times. This was the other biggest fight for me on that map, Zurdo accepted it like that,” said Benavidez of his move up in weight class.
Of all the Mexican fights of the past, this will be the first Cinco De Mayo match at cruiserweight, and it should be a great one between two Mexican warriors.
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