Connect with us
DAPA Banner

Sports

Gilberto Ramirez compares sparring Canelo and David Benavidez: “He has power”

Published

on

Gilberto Ramirez has sparred Canelo Alvarez and David Benavidez, both at different stages of his career, and credits one of them for hitting particularly hard.

Unified world cruiserweight champion Ramirez will face Benavidez on May 2, defending his WBO and WBA titles at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.

Since suffering his only professional blemish, a points loss to Dmitry Bivol in 2022, Ramirez has firmly cemented himself as an elite operator at 200lbs.

Advertisement

Consecutive victories over Arsen Goulamirian and Chris Billam-Smith saw him topple two world champions in 2024, before defending his titles via another unanimous decision, this time against Yuniel Dorticos, in June 2025.

Benavidez, meanwhile, secured two-division world title status last year after being upgraded from ‘interim’ to full WBC light-heavyweight, with Bivol having relinquished his belt.

The 29-year-old then made a maiden defence of his crown in November, stopping Anthony Yarde in round seven, which led to him negotiating a cruiserweight clash with Ramirez.

During his time as the WBC ‘interim’ champion at 168lbs, many felt that Canelo, the then-super-middleweight king, was avoiding a mandatory title defence against Benavidez.

Advertisement

But while we can only imagine how a matchup between Alvarez and Benavidez would unfold, Ramirez has kindly offered an insight into his sparring sessions with the both of them.

Speaking with Fight Hub TV, the 34-year-old hinted at the power being more apparent with Canelo than it was with his next opponent.

“[The sparring was] way different because Canelo is short and, at that time, I was [at] 168[lbs]. I was super skinny.

“Then I moved up [in weight] and moved to the US, and I started sparring with David and different guys – bigger guys.

“Canelo – he’s good. He has power; he has a lot of faints; he moves really well. And Benavidez, he presses you all the time; you don’t have time to breathe. You have to just keep going. And [Benavidez] likes to be [on the] inside.”

Advertisement

Ramirez shared rounds with Canelo during his reign as the WBO super-middleweight champion, while the Benavidez sparring seemingly came following his brief excursion to 175lbs.

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Sports

Coco Gauff rallies to win for 2nd straight day at Miami Open

Published

on

Tennis: Miami OpenMar 21, 2026; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Coco Gauff (USA) hits a forehand against Alycia Parks (USA) (not pictured) on day five of the 2026 Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Coco Gauff rallied from dropping the first set to beat fellow American Alycia Parks 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 to advance into the Round of 16 in the Miami Open on Saturday in Miami Gardens, Fla.

It was the second straight day that the fourth-seeded Gauff dropped the first set but came back to win the match. She saved 14 of 16 break-point chances she faced, including all 10 over the adverse final two sets, which were a tougher battle than the scoreline indicates.

Parks won 49% of her service points and 40% of her return points, with both competitors finishing with eight double faults.

“It was really difficult,” Gauff said after her win. “She was playing really well and she’s one of those people who’s hit or miss sometimes. So, you’re stuck in the fine line of being aggressive but also maybe just making her play. … The second and third (sets), I just tried to be aggressive when I could. I made some adjustments on the return and I think that made a difference.”

It was largely a day without upsets in Miami, with only a pair of seeded competitors falling to unseeded foes.

Advertisement

Australia’s Talia Gibson knocked off 16th-seeded Naomi Osaka of Japan 7-5, 6-4 in second-round competition. Osaka had 13 aces to one double fault but was unable to break Gibson, failing in all four opportunities she had. Gibson managed a break in each set, at 5-5 in Set 1 and in the opening game of Set 2, winning 69% of her service points and just 33% of her return points to build off reaching the Indian Wells quarterfinals earlier this month.

“I was able to draw on some experiences from Indian Wells to stay calm,” Gibson said. “It’s been really cool to see what I am capable of, and it’s really exciting for me.”

In Round of 32 action, Romania’s Sorana Cirstea eliminated No. 21 Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-3, 6-2, setting herself up as Gauff’s next opponent with a quarterfinal spot up for grabs.

Advertisement

In other third-round action, No. 6 Amanda Anisimova, No. 8 Mirra Andreeva of Russia, No. 10 Victoria Mboko of Canada, No. 12 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, No. 13 Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic and No. 31 Alexandra Eala of the Philippines all advanced to the Round of 16 with straight-set victories.

In Round of 64 action on Saturday, a trio of seeded Americans in No. 5 Jessica Pegula (the runner-up last year in Miami), No. 15 Madison Keys and No. 18 Iva Jovic advanced with minimal resistance. Pegula won via second-set retirement but was up 6-1, 3-0 and appeared poised to close out the match in the near future.

An unseeded American, Sloane Stephens, had less success in the Round of 64, falling to No. 23 Qinwen Zheng 6-3, 6-2.

In one of only two three-set matches of the day, Canadian 26th seed Leylah Fernandez outlasted Russia’s Oksana Selekhmeteva 7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-1 in a two-hour, 25-minute battle. Fernandez next faces Pegula for a spot in the fourth round.

Advertisement

–Field Level Media

Source link

Continue Reading

Sports

Jon Jones: “I’ll pay them double what the UFC offered”

Published

on

It appears Eddie Hearn would have been game to make Tom Aspinall vs. Jon Jones, were they not under contract with the UFC. Not only that, the Matchroom Boxing chairman says he’d have happily paid both fighters double what the UFC would’ve offered them.

While Jones never entertained a title unification with Aspinall, during his tenure as the heavyweight champion, a prominent narrative was that the bout never materialized because Dana White and the UFC failed to match the New Yorker’s financial demands.

Hearn’s Matchroom Talent Agency now represents Aspinall and recently slammed the world’s premier MMA promotion over the Brit’s contract, which he deems unfair.

Speaking with ProBoxingFans following this weekend’s Matchroom Boxing card, Hearn said:

Advertisement

Get the latest updates on One Championship Rankings at Sportskeeda and more

“They [Jones and Aspinall] are under contract. If they weren’t under contract, I could do Aspinall against Jon Jones, and I’ll pay them double what the UFC offered them, probably.”

Hearn then went on to insist that the headliners around whom the cards are built deserve a bigger share of the revenue in general:

Advertisement

“If you do Tom Aspinall against [Alex] Pereira for the world heavyweight championship, respect the guy, will you? If there is $100 million in the pot, don’t give me a million. He is the defending champion. It’s a joke. They are going to have to do something. They are in a bad, bad situation at the moment.”

Check out Eddie Hearn’s comments on Tom Aspinall vs. Jon Jones below:

Aspinall was forced into a hiatus from MMA after suffering debilitating eye pokes from Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 in October. After multiple surgical procedures, the UFC heavyweight champion finally returned to training earlier this week.

Gane is scheduled to face Alex Pereira for the interim heavyweight title at UFC Freedom 250 in June. The winner of the fight is expected to be Aspinall’s comeback opponent.