On The Watch “It’s All About Gilberto Ramirez vs David Benavidez”

WBA/WBO Cruiserweight Showdown

Last night’s PBC/PPV Prime Video Main Event surpassed my expectations when WBA/WBO Cruiserweight Champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (48-2, 30 Kos) took on WBC Light Heavyweight Champion David “The Mexican Monster “Benavidez (32-0, 26 Kos) and completely got dominated by the younger man who was moving up in weight to do battle at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

I anticipated these two warriors who are very familiar with one another after sparing over 100 rounds or so in the past to give us a mind-blowing boxing match but what transpired was the complete opposite.

 Ramirez came out the gate with a “game plan” in mind and proceeded to execute it as instructed in the first few rounds but soon found out that once Benavidez started to let his hands go that this “Mexican Monster” was the real deal under them bright lights.

Ramirez quickly threw the original “game plan” out the ring as Benavidez started to pick up the pace and forced Ramirez into a shootout. As I’ve mentioned in the past going toe-to-toe with “The Mexican Monster” while not being properly prepared is a death trap which Ramirez fell right into. Not being able to match Benavidez punch for punch is detrimental to your health.  

The hand speed in which Benavidez comes at you with has a tendency of breaking most combatants down and it did just that in the final seconds of the fourth round when Benavidez unleashed a barrage of unanswered punches to the head of Ramirez, dropping him to a standing 8 count.

Ramirez either refused or ignored his cornerman’s instructions but the inevitable was near. Ramirez wrongfully continued to stand toe-to-toe and attempted to bang with Benavidez but was visibly breaking down, unable to stand his ground as Benavidez’s speed and clip rate was too much to contend with and eventually succumbed to a deadly three-piece punch combination that closed the show in the sixth round prompting the referee to halt the bout.

To simply put it, Ramirez was outgunned on every level. It was a very impressive and dominate performance by “The Mexican Monster” who now enters History as the first combatant to win Titles at Super Middleweight, Light Heavyweight and now Cruiserweight.

With Benavidez now holding the WBA/WBO Cruiserweight Titles and the WBC Light Heavyweight Title, his options are quite interesting. I can’t wait to see which avenue he decides to tackle next.

Until then, congratulations David.

Blaze

ON The Watch “It’s All About The NBA PLAYOFFS WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS”

NBA Playoffs Western Conference Semifinals 2026

The No. 1 Seed Defending Champions Oklahoma City Thunder had themselves a quick four-game sweep of the Phoenix Sun in the first round of action and are now gearing up to shoot down the No. 4 Seed Los Angeles Lakers who have been pushing the envelope with LeBron and their depleted squad. That being said, the Lakers are not to be taken lightly. The Thunder will have to stick to the script and stay focused on the task at hand. The road to the NBA Finals is the only destination.

The No. 2 Seed San Antonio Spurs had themselves a warm up in the first round by dispatching the Portland Trail Blazers in 5 and are now looking to do the same to the No. 6 Seed Minnesota Timberwolves who are possibly coming in shorthanded without their main man Anthony Edwards but I do anticipate the Wolves to at least stay competitive for as long as the series continues.

Tune in this Monday night May 4, 2026, for Game one of the NBA Western Conference Semifinals.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Naoya Inoue vs Junto Nakatani”

Undisputed Junior Featherweight Showdown

Undisputed IBF/WBA/WBC/WBO/Ring Magazine Junior Featherweight Champion Naoya “Monster” Inoue (33-0, 27 Kos) continued his dominant performance in the Junior Featherweight Division when he took on another heavy fisted challenger coming up in weight in undefeated former IBF/WBC Bantamweight Champion Junto “Big Bang” Nakatani (32-1, 24 Kos) this morning at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan before 55,000 fans in attendance.

In the first few rounds, Nakatani uncharacteristically fought with extreme caution by not letting his lethal hands go unlike Inoue who pressed the action by being the aggressor and letting his hands go, keeping the rounds interesting. That being said, Nakatani eventually started to let his hands go in stretches but still with much caution to match up with Inoue who kept a steady pace with accurate punch output.

As expected, both combatants were strategic in their approach but to me it was Inoue who looked more like the risk taker inside that squared circle. The action picked up as the rounds progressed when both warriors looked to do some damage to one another whenever the opportunity presented itself. As much as Inoue’s speed was a problem so was Nakatani’s jab whenever it landed but the real difference, was Inoue’s power punches which were visibly more effective then Nakatani’s.

Nevertheless, this was a highly executed bout where both combatants had their moments which made it that much more interesting. After 12 full rounds of action the Judges at hand scored it 116-112, 116-112 and 115-113 unanimously for Naoya Inoue.

This was a challenging bout for Inoue where he had to adjust on the fly as his opponent was quite skilled and evasive in his own way. Inoue still found a way to prevail and retain his Undisputed IBF/WBA/WBC/WBO/Ring Magazine Junior Featherweight Championship crown.

Well done, Naoya. Who’s next?

Blaze