Unified champion Dmitry Bivol, who conclusively outpointed Gilberto Ramirez in 2022, has predicted his former foe’s upcoming cruiserweight clash with David Benavidez.

The pair will collide for Ramirez’s WBO and WBA titles on May 2, headlining a Premier Boxing Champions pay-per-view card at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.

Bidding to become a three-division world champion, Benavidez comes off a seventh-round finish over Anthony Yarde in November, making a successful first defence of his WBC light-heavyweight title.

The belt previously belonged to Bivol, whose majority decision victory over Artur Beterbiev in February 2025 saw him become the undisputed king at 175lbs.

Before undergoing back surgery, though, the masterful technician opted to vacate his WBC title, allowing ‘The Mexican Monster’ to be upgraded from ‘interim’ to full champion.

Ramirez, meanwhile, defended his unified cruiserweight crown by convincingly outpointing Yuniel Dorticos in June, which followed his unanimous decision victories to dethrone Arsen Goulamirian and Chris Billam-Smith the previous year.

Prior to that, Ramirez had become a world champion at 168lbs, before suffering his only professional defeat against Bivol at light-heavyweight.

Speaking with Fight Hub TV, Bivol highlighted the speed of Benavidez as a potentially significant factor in his clash with ‘Zurdo’.

“I didn’t see ‘Zurdo’ fight last year [against Dorticos], so I don’t know what shape he’s in. But I think the key to this fight will be the speed, and Benavidez has better speed.”

Sure enough, Benavidez is often credited with having tremendous speed, both in terms of his hands and feet, while Ramirez is hailed more for his technical prowess.

If he is to retain his titles, then the 34-year-old must select his moments and time Benavidez with counters, although this is much easier said than done.