Body work and clean combinations force sixth-round TKO for WBA, WBO belts
David Benavidez (32-0, 26 KOs) stopped Gilberto Ramirez (48-2) at 2:59 of the sixth round to win the WBA and WBO cruiserweight titles. He took control early with the jab and body work, forcing the stoppage with clean combinations.
Benavidez established distance from the opening round. He fired straight rights and short hooks, then dug to the body to slow Ramirez’s feet. Ramirez stayed in the southpaw stance and looked to counter, but he was a step behind as Benavidez kept closing distance and letting his hands go.
By the third and fourth rounds, the damage began to show. Ramirez’s face started to mark up, his nose bloodied as Benavidez mixed head and body shots. Benavidez kept pressing forward and forcing exchanges where his combinations landed cleaner and in higher volume.
Ramirez tried to answer with single shots and occasional counters, but he couldn’t keep Benavidez off him. The jab kept finding the target, and once Benavidez got inside, he worked short hooks and uppercuts, staying busy and forcing Ramirez to react.
The fifth and sixth rounds turned one-sided. Ramirez’s right eye swelled badly, limiting his vision, and his offense slowed further. Benavidez stayed on him, letting combinations go with authority, landing combinations to head and body until referee Thomas Taylor stepped in to stop it at 2:59 of the sixth.
“I knew I wasn’t going to be able to overpower him because it was my first time coming up to 200lbs,” Benavidez said. “So, I knew I had to use the gifts that God gave me: speed, power, movement, punch selection and IQ. That’s exactly what I did.”
Ramirez was reacting to the first shot while Benavidez was already finishing combinations. Even before the swelling closed his eye, Ramirez struggled to deal with the pace and punch selection.
“I just wanted to give [Ramirez] thanks for the opportunity,” Benavidez said. “I love Zurdo Ramirez. You know, we came up together. We came up sparring together. I got him ready for his world championship fights. He got me ready for my world championship fights. So, I just want to say I love Zurdo Ramirez, but, you know, it is what it is in here. There’s only one Monster.”
Benavidez left the ring with two belts at cruiserweight and no sign of slowing his workrate at the higher weight. Ramirez never found a stretch where he could hold position or turn the exchanges once the pressure set in.
