Benavidez has created the same problem for rival after rival. Fighters may compete early, but few keep that level once the rounds build.
“Guys have good rounds, they don’t have good fights against him. Ultimately, they wear down mentally, physically, emotionally, and David Benavidez takes over and gets his hand raised,” Jones said on Hall of Game.
That has become the key selling point of Benavidez. His pressure does not always win the first few minutes, but it often changes the full fight once opponents begin reacting instead of working.
Jones, however, does not see Ramirez as a helpless underdog. He pointed to the Mexican southpaw’s experience, length, and steady style as reasons the fight could become difficult if Benavidez cannot break him down early.
“If Zordo Ramirez can weather those storms without taking too much punishment and keep that thing tight into the back half, he’s got a shot,” Jones said.
Ramirez has won titles in multiple divisions and has shown he can fight at a measured pace without giving rounds away cheaply. That may matter against an opponent who thrives when exchanges become rushed and chaotic.
Gilberto Ramirez has spent the last few years acclimating to the higher weights, and his frame at cruiserweight is naturally broader than what David Benavidez has faced.
However, the punishment Benavidez took against Oleksandr Gvozdyk and David Morrell Jr. was obvious. While he won both fights by unanimous decision, those victories were different from his seek and destroy”runs at 168.
In his light heavyweight debut against Gvozdyk, Benavidez admitted to injuries, a torn hand ligament, and a cut, which forced him to box more conservatively. He dominated the first half, but the punch stats showed a significant tightening in the later rounds.
Benavidez outlanded Gvozdyk 107 to 57 in rounds 1 through 5. In the final seven rounds, that gap closed to a much narrower 116 to 106.
Against Morrell, it was a bruising encounter where Morrell’s athleticism and power forced Benavidez to absorb heavy shots. Even though the scorecards were clear (118-108, 115-111, 115-111), Benavidez finished the fight looking more marked up than usual.
The jump to fight Ramirez for the cruiserweight title represents a 25-pound increase from Benavidez’s longtime home at super middleweight. Critics argue that if Gvozdyk and Morrell were able to find openings at 175, a naturally larger champion like Ramirez will have the durability to ignore the “Monster” volume and land more counters.
Ramirez thrives when he can use his reach to keep opponents at the end of his punches. The big question is can Ramirez move enough to actually stay out of the line of fire? Since moving to cruiserweight, his footwork and ability to turn his opponents have been surprisingly sharp.
In his wins over Arsen Goulamirian and Chris Billam-Smith, he was using his 6’2″ frame to reset the distance every time things got hairy. However, David Benavidez is a completely different animal from Billam-Smith.
While Ramirez’s movement looked great against guys who come forward in straight lines, Benavidez is a master at cutting off the ring and throwing in combinations that catch fighters even as they’re trying to move away.
Ramirez tried to use movement against Dmitry Bivol at 175, and we saw how that went. He couldn’t keep up with the technical rhythm and ended up losing a clear decision. Benavidez isn’t as neat as Bivol, but his pressure is far more physically wearing.
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