Chávez says weight jump to cruiserweight could trouble Benavidez against unified champion Ramírez

Julio César Chávez has warned that David Benavidez is being underestimated heading into his cruiserweight fight with Gilberto Ramírez. The former champion says the move up in weight could turn Saturday’s bout into a much tougher fight than expected..

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“A lot of people think Benavidez is going to mop the floor with Ramirez. They’re very mistaken. They’re underestimating him.”

Chavez pointed to Benavidez moving up in weight as a major factor, noting the challenge of facing a bigger, natural cruiserweight.

“Those 25 pounds Benavidez is moving up. Be careful,” said Chavez.

Chavez might be looking at this through a historical lens, where jumps between divisions were treated with more fear of the unknown.

Since Benavidez has spent the last year acclimating to 175 and beating champions there, the jump to 200 is a much more manageable 25-pound step from a weight where he’s already comfortable.

“If Ramirez is well prepared and comes in determined, he’s going to scare him,” said Chavez. “It’s going to be a tougher fight than people think. I believe it goes to a decision, but I don’t know who wins. Benavidez is the favorite, so the pressure is on him.”

The only part where Chavez might have a point is that cruiserweight is a different beast entirely. 175 is a big division, but 200 is where you start running into guys who are essentially small heavyweights.

It feels like Chavez is slightly exaggerating the shock of the weight, perhaps leaning on his own experiences of how hard it was to climb divisions back in the day.

Benavidez hasn’t looked like a small fighter at 175, and given his frame, he might actually be more dangerous at cruiserweight because he won’t be as drained from the weight cut.

Ramirez isn’t just a cruiserweight; he’s a unified one with wins over Arsen Goulamirian and Chris Billam-Smith. He’s fully settled into the weight, while Benavidez is testing the waters for the first time.

The fight is scheduled for Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and will stream on DAZN PPV.