David Benavidez: The $3K Zurdo Sparring Story, Cinco de Mayo Takeover & Stoppage Promise

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2:42Our best lineup is here at Lowe's. Lowe's, we help, you save Ballot at 5-6 Annuals offer excludes Alaska and Hawaii Visit your nearby Lowe's on South Holland Road in Chicago What up, it's your boy Roy Jones Jr. I'm hanging out with my man, Andre Ward We two Hall of Famers will bring y 'all to a show called The Hall of Game A show where we discuss boxing, sports, life, and entertainment from our view How much better than that can you get? me and Roy don't always agree. The one thing you will get is a Hall of Fame worth the game. Welcome back to another episode of the Hall of Game. And I want to welcome today the three-time world champion and current WBC light heavyweight champion and one half of the big cruiserweight showdown Saturday, May 2nd at the T-Mobile Arena against Gilberto Zerto Ramirez for his WBO and WBA cruiserweight title.

3:43So welcome to the show, my brother, David El Monstro Benavidez. Brother, thank you for taking some time out of camp, man. How are you feeling? I'm feeling good, man. First of all, I just want to give you guys a thanks. You know, it means a lot to be on the show with two living legends like yourself and Roy. So thank you so much for being here with you guys. Thank you. Yes, sir. Anytime, man. You know, you're always welcome. Man, I'm always sensitive about taking fighters' time around this time as a fight is close because I know what goes into it. But, you know, I want to ask you about camp, but but also I want to kind of jump ahead a little bit, man.

4:13It seems to me over the last few years, you found more of your voice and it seems that you settled into the promotion side of fights, even though it's work. You have no problem doing the work to do these interviews. Am I saying that right? Yeah. You know, because at the end of the day, you guys are the ones getting our story off. So I try to do as much, you know, much of this work as possible. I know a lot of other fighters don't like to do it, but at the end of the day, this is what brings more attention to the sport, to our pay-per-view and to everything, man. So, you know, it's hard work, but at the end of the day, it has to be done.

4:44So you're moving up in weight to the cruiserweight limit, 200 pounds for this fight. Though training camp is hard, it's got to be a little bit easier not having to cut that weight. Yeah, no, yeah, definitely. I've been at the weight for like the past two weeks already. And honestly, this is it feels really comfortable here. You know, I'm kind of feeling like now I should just stay up here instead of going back down. But I have a lot of promises at 175. And you know what I mean? I feel really good. This fight, you know, you know, I always have tremendous energy going into the fights. And as you guys can see, my stamina holds up really well.

5:22And that's with weight cuts. This time I don't got to cut anyway. So I'm in uncharted territory right now. You know, I feel really good. I feel really relaxed. I've been training since January. So I have five months training and training camp. Been getting strength and conditioning work, been getting running work, great sparring work. And we're ready to go, man. I'm very excited for the performance I'm about to put on because I'm 100 % ready. Man, Gilberto Zerto Ramirez, it's a guy that you're very familiar with. I don't know how many rounds you guys have logged together, but you've logged a lot of rounds together.

5:51And we had a discussion when we interviewed him last week. And then me and Roy had a discussion after the interview. That can be tricky. You know, a guy knows you and, you know, he's seen the mistakes and, you know, it's different. You got head gear on, bigger gloves, but he's still aware of who you are. You're aware of who he is. How do you feel about the rounds you've logged and how that may affect this fight coming up? Yeah, I mean, every time I spar with somebody, everything I learned from a fighter, it stays computed in my head. And I always I use that for whatever it is I got to use. I mean, I know his strengths.

6:22I know his weaknesses. So now it's for me just to implement my game plan around that. You know, there's obviously stuff that he's doing well, different stuff that he's been doing. You know what I mean? But, you know, at the end of the day, I'm a student of the game and I learned very fast. And also, I'm going to take my past performances and put it in this one as well. You know, everything I've learned, you know, everything is a learning experience. And I'm going to use those learning experience in this fight. Can Zerto Ramirez do anything with David Benavidez? You always, as a fighter, you have to give the respect where the respect is doing.

6:53You always have to be cautious. I think the fighters that go in the fight cocky thinking that nothing could happen to me sometimes get hurt. Sometimes something happens to them. You know, I'm giving I'm expecting the best Sula Ramirez ever. I'm in my head, the way I got prepared for Sula Ramirez, I'm expecting him to be fast. I'm expecting him to be powerful. I'm expecting to be have a good IQ in the boxing. That's going to allow me to bring the best out of myself and perform at the highest level. but you know what i've learned from my past fights is that now that i'm going up in weight you know these what i've learned is that now i've been blessed with speed so i'm not going up there trying to outpower them i'm not going to try to look for one shot i've learned that the power is in the combinations the punches that hurt the the fighters are the ones that they don't see you know i think i've showed that from my last fight with anthony yard you know staying consistent with the jab throwing combinations breaking them down little by little and then attacking that body and you know and everything follows in line so um you know have a great you know game plan for this fight i know i'm going to be faster than sudo ramirez so my game plan is you know put them punches and bunches put them combinations together and impact the body all night i want to follow up on that because i love the way you put that you know there's always a healthy balance like you said between i believe in myself and i believe on the better man you got to have that conviction as a fighter if you're going to be a champion and be a champion for a long time but where's the balance between confidence, unwavering belief, and then, but I got it.

8:22I have to be honest about what I'm fighting. And then I may even have to give my opponent a little bit more credit to make sure that I do what I'm supposed to do. What's that balance for, to explain this to fighters and just fans who don't know how this works. Yeah. So you're a hundred percent right. There has to be a balance. So what I like to do, I like to give the opponent a little bit more respect than they really deserve. Not that they deserve, but I make sure that I'm preparing for the best version of whatever opponent I'm going up to. That being said, I'm making sure my defense is on point.

8:56I'm making sure my footwork is on point. I'm making sure my counter shots are on point. For every reaction he has to do, there has to be a reaction for myself. I've been working this consistently in the gym. If he throws something, I got to come back with a counter shot. I got to do a defensive shot. So I'm making sure all my P's and Q's are what they're supposed to be. And we got a great game plan. You know what I mean? I got to be prepared for the worst. You know what I mean? I'm getting ready for the best, and I got to be prepared for the worst. That being said is, you know, if there's anything that happens in there, I got to be ready to adapt to whatever comes my way.

9:31I like that. Cinco de Mayo, big Mexican holiday weekend. I know Floyd and Canelo have been fighting over it and holding it down for years now. But for the first time, I think in a long time and probably the first time in your career, you get control of that weekend. How does this make you feel, David? I feel really great, man. Honestly, to be honest with you, I feel really blessed this moment. You know, it's been a long, long, long time coming. I've been professional 13 years. I've been boxing 27 years and, you know, this is finally my big shot. It's my big moment. And I think, you know, everything happened at its perfect timing.

10:07You know, Canelo Alvarez is fighting in Saudi Arabia. He left that date. you know um may 5th so nobody's fighting there so this is perfect for me we're also going to be making history because this is two the first time two mexican mexican fighters fight for a championship at cruiserweight on single mile two so there's a lot going into this so you know this is a big this is a big moment for me and not only for my career but in my life you know i think after this fight i passed that threshold threshold and i could become the face of boxing but i have first of all i'm gonna get a great performance and um you know like i said greatness is not given it's taken nice nice being fighting a person that you sparred before is this the first guy that you fought that you sparred with um i don't know i've sparred a lot of people bro i don't know where is this the best guy that you fought that you know yeah this is probably the best guy that i've sparred or the champion you know i mean um i sparred all the other champions and um like Like Duvall, I sparred him too, but this is the first champion that I've sparred back then that I'm going to end up fighting.

11:08You know, it's just the way it happened. I'm just really happy because I used to work with Shildo Ramirez the first time I worked with him. I was 17 years old, and I got him ready for Archer Abraham. And I was thinking about the other day, I'm like, man, I sparred him for like 12 rounds, three times a week for like five weeks, six weeks. and then after the fight, you know, his manager at the time, Safari, I thought I got a good deal. He gave me$2 ,000 and third$3 ,000. I was happy with that, but I'm like, damn, man, I kind of got ripped off because I paid my guy$1 ,000 a week. And I was doing that for like eight weeks, you know what I mean?

11:46But it was a great learning experience. I mean, Sourder Ramirez is a great guy. I got to work with him and I'm just very happy that now we're finally being able to fight pay-per-view in front of all these fans in Sinko and Wild. The last thing I'd like to know is because you know, you spar with him, you know everything about him, he knows everything about you, do you see this fight ending in a decision? Or do you think somebody's going to take somebody out? No, I want to take them out, bro. Like I said, greatness is not giving, it's taking. You guys know how I fight. I've come too far to try to change up my style and I am going in, you know what I mean?

12:23This is the way I love to fight. I'm going to go in there and I see a lot of opportunities meet hurting Surdo. So now is, and I've heard him a lot before in sparring sessions. So I know for a fact I can hurt him, but it's just now that when I hurt him, I open him up. I got to make sure I stay on him to get the, to get the stoppage. But I definitely feel like I can get a stoppage. I just got to work behind the jab, use my movement, do some counter shots and I see a lot of opportunities for me hurting Surdo and then ultimately taking them out. Awesome. Well, good luck to you, man. and I think that you are doing a great job, a superb job in your boxing career.

12:56I love the fact that you got the opportunity to perform on this holiday finally. It's been a long time coming for you. Just looking for you to go out there and make the most of it, all right? Thank you so much, sir. I appreciate it. David, me and Roy had a talk about, and you don't have to reveal this if you don't want to, but what's your potential walking around weight maybe? You comfortable revealing what that number is? Yeah, well, this camp, I was at 210. Okay. So I started at 210. man. Thank God for me. I didn't have to lose too much weight, but I'd be tripping sometimes. Sometimes I come in at 210, 200, you know what I mean?

13:29But I'm a big dude. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You got a big frame. The weight was worth it. Positive affirmations and all the hard work. The keys to your dream home from the vision board have been secured. I see you. A whole new future awaits your planning. From top-notch decor, but on a budget, to late-night backyard summer cookouts. Life feels good. Now comes the time to fill it with memories. What will you host first? Maybe movie night, game night, stories that make us laugh and space tournaments that make us cry. First, you need to get movers and new furniture. And what about party favors? Will there be a theme?

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16:46From sauce to dust to nuggets. Diablo-dusted crispy chicken nuggets. No, they don't come in mild. That would make like zero sense with the name. New Diablo-dusted crispy chicken nuggets. Only at Taco Bell. at participating U.S. Taco Bell locations for a limited time and while supplies last. Tell me about your son, man, Anthony, because, man, you do something that I wasn't able to do. Like, I flirted with the idea of maybe staying at home for camp or maybe having my kids around, but it just wouldn't work for me, man. It just, I just couldn't, I couldn't find a balance because, you know, I'm getting meaner and meaner at camp and it's getting closer and it's like, bro, I can't, I can't juggle these two, but I love seeing your son around.

17:28I'm sure it's a good balance for you. So was he in camp this time? How did you, how did, how does your son being around help you in camp? My son, he's always in camp for me. So I, I just bought a house over here in Vegas. And now what I see, you know, when I was growing up, my dad, he trained me in a way that was extremely hard because he didn't know that if we could become a world champion or not, right? So he pushed us hard every single day. Now I see my son, I, you know, I'd make him, I bring him to the gym three times a day, three times a week, three days out the week. You know what I mean?

18:01So I don't really want to over push him. But when it's time to train, he's in there and he's working. You know what I mean? And he really impresses me because he really goes above and beyond and tries to be the best version of himself. And he's learning fast. You know what I mean? The thing about me is, like, you don't understand what you were saying. Everybody gets home. Right now, everybody's getting on my nerves. You know what I mean? And that's just like what it is when you're making weight and all this stuff. So I got a big enough house where I stay at the other side of the house. I go to another room.

18:31I tell them, don't bother me. Don't come near me. You know what I mean? But I still, you know, for me, I like having my family around. But, yeah, they just give me the motivation and, you know, the strength I need to go about my day. And, you know, I come back home after a long, hard day. You know, I might feel tired and stuff. But when I get home, I see my sons. I see my daughter. I see my wife. And, you know, it gives me that that extra boost of why I'm working extremely hard for. Yeah, for me, and I don't know if it was like this for you, Roy, like, you know, the fight is eight, 10 weeks out.

19:02You feel the pressure. Right. But it's more the pressure of like, OK, let me get this camp set up. We make sure we checking all the boxes and doing what we got to do as the fight got closer. Like I'm dreaming about this fight now. I'm trying to nod off and my sleep is disrupted where I'm resting. But I can't really get in that deep sleep when I get two weeks out, one week out like this big event that we've been talking about. the billboards, all the stuff. Like, I'm the center stage. It's not about anybody else. And that's the, I think my body started to react to that. Even when I'm not in the gym, I just, I start feeling this.

19:32Like, it's a good pressure and a good, good nerves. What is your process, David, as the fight gets two weeks, a week out, four days out, and as it gets a couple days out? You know what I mean? I just try to enjoy the process now. Like I said, this is my, I think this is going to be my, this is going to be my second, my third pay-per-view. So, you know what I mean? I'm getting used to this type of experience. You know, this is my second time finding out the T-Mobile Arena. So the nerves are definitely there. But, you know, I try not to pay too much attention to them because, you know, at the end of the day, they're good nerves.

20:02But I don't feel like I have any pressure because I'm doing what I love every single day. And this is exactly what I've been – this is the position I've been wanting to be in my whole life. So I just – now instead of getting nervous, I kind of just tend to enjoy the experience and enjoy the ride up. You know what I mean? And at the end of the day, you know, I know everything's going to be good because I'll put in all the work. I think sometimes if if the camp isn't going good, then I'd be nervous. But the camp has been going great. So I'm just really happy right now. You know, I mean, I'm just counting the days down and, you know, ready to perform.

20:37Your father, Jose Benavidez Sr., man, he's been with you from the beginning. You know, Roy's talked on this show many times about the good that he had with his father. But then there was moments where it wasn't so good because just the dynamic they had. this is rare to see a father-son relationship work at the highest level sometimes it'll work at the amateur level and then maybe on the way up but you get to that certain plateau where now the fighter is is the man and he's the boss he's cutting the checks and it's not always it's hard for the father to let go and let the son be the boss how has the relationship worked with your dad just at this level that you're at well I think when you're a little when you're a little kid and your dad has, you know, guided your career the whole time, there's going to be a time where that little kid becomes a man.

21:21And I think I passed that process with my dad. We both had to let go of our ego and take a look forward and see how are we going to continue to do this? You know, I've made it very clear to my dad that I'm a man and I like things done my certain way. He did a certain way for like 20 years, you know what I mean? So now I take ownership of my career and my training and all that you know we've we've come to that agreement and understanding i'm just very grateful to have my dad you know just because there's always special moments in the gym where like you'll be training hard and stuff and then i'll look over at my dad and then i'll have like a flash memory of when i was a little kid i'm like man we've been we've been doing this since i was a little kid like you've really helped me get to this my get to this point in my career so i'm just very grateful for my dad i think at the end of the day when you two men have disagreements you guys have to talk it out and figure that out and thankfully for us me and my dad we figured everything out you know we're working from a point of peace right now and he knows i'm the boss you know but i still give my dad the respect because at the end of the day he's my boss you know i mean he's he's helped me get here and he's my father at the end of the day and i respect his opinion and you know we just we we co-create in a career you know i mean i you know i have my ideas he has his ideas we talk and then we come up with an idea both of us so So we're able to work good like that.

22:41Man, I love that, man. That's a beautiful response and a beautiful dynamic you guys have. Again, it's very, very rare in life, much less in a boxing relationship. Last one, the fans that are tuning in May 2nd on the Zone pay-per-view and PBC pay-per-view, what can they expect from David Benavidez and what can they expect in this fight? Honestly, this is going to be one of the highlights fights where there's going to be so much highlights in here because I made sure that worked on all my combinations. I have not left any stone unturned. I've worked my defense. I've worked my offense. I've worked my accountability shots.

23:14I've worked my stamina. So this is going to be one of the best, one of my best performance thus far. And I'm very excited because like I said, I'm going to leave it all out in the ring. And you guys know that for a fact, because everything I say, I do. And I've never let my character down. You know, if I said, if I tell you guys, I'm going to give you the war, you guys know you guys are getting a war. I said that with Anthony Yard. I went in there, I pushed the action. I stopped him. I feel the exact same way for this fight. You know, it's going to be a tough, difficult fight, but I'm going to go in there and I'm going to push the action and I will get the stoppage against Suda Ramirez and I will become champion in the third weight division.

23:47Nice. You staying at Cruiser? You going back down or you don't know yet? No, I'm going back down because honestly, at the end of the day, what I want for myself is, you know, nobody pushes me to do anything. Every fight that I've got for the past five fights, I've called myself. I want the ball. I want better beef. I want the hard fights that's going to make me that's that's that I'm going to have to go deep inside myself and bring the best out of me. You know, like I've always said in boxing, you have to put yourself in a position of stress to get the best version of yourself. And that means going up against the best of the best.

24:21And I definitely do want to show my spirit is made of. And I want to show everybody that with belief in yourself, you could accomplish anything. Well, brother, we appreciate you taking the time on the Hall of Game. Man, you have gone from a fighter with a lot of potential to a contender, to a champion, to a guy who is taking care of business. But now you are a business. So, man, keep doing what you're doing, man. Go get that bag. Looking forward to a great fight. Don't miss this fight live on PBC pay-per-view on Prime Video and his own pay-per-view. Thank you for taking the time on the Hall of Game, brother.

24:52Thank you, guys. God bless everybody. God bless you. We haven't done a non-boxing take in a while. I want to get into this non-boxing take on this show, a sport that you are very familiar with and a sport that you have a lot of love for and a sport that you still watch, the NBA. Warriors coach, Steve Kerr, all indications are saying that he's coached his last game for the Golden State Warriors. It's not official. Draymond Green came out shortly after the last game that the Warriors played and said, man, it certainly felt like that was the last game. The Warriors ended their season in a loss to the Phoenix Suns.

25:27In the closing seconds, Coach Steve Kerr subbed out Steph Curry and Draymond Green and just had one more huddle with these guys. And apparently he told them that he loved them. And, you know, Steve Kerr took over the team in 2014 from Mark Jackson, who is a friend of mine. He transformed that team immediately in the first four seasons alone. The Golden State Warriors won three championships, reached five consecutive finals before claiming their fourth title in 2022 against the Boston Celtics, along with recently becoming the fourth quickest coach in NBA history to reach 600 wins, finishing at least now.