By Norm Frauenheim
LAS VEGAS – Cinco De Mayo has its own boxing history, a lively legacy that starts with Julio Cesar Chavez in a bloodied line of succession that includes Oscar De La Hoya, then Floyd Mayweather and finally Canelo Alvarez.
A peaceful transition, it’s not. Never has been. From fight-to-fight, it’s ruthless as it is perilous, scarred and scary all at once.
Enter David Benavidez. Since Canelo’s scorecard loss to Terence Crawford, the hunt is on for a new successor, a crown prince ready to crown himself and anybody who stands in his way.
Whether he’s ready and able to be next is what’s at stake Saturday in big move upscale against a credible champion, Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez at T-Mobile Arena.
Benavidez insists he is. He uses words like destiny. Zurdo says he will try his best to win. But Benavidez has eliminated the maybe from his language.
He will win, says the Phoenix born-and-forged fighter, a former super-middleweight champion and current light-heavyweight champ who is boldly moving up 25 pounds in a risky attempt to prove that Cinco De Mayo belongs to him.
“A championship in a third division will catapult me into a place along the greats,’’ he said Thursday during a final news conference at the MGM Grand.
He talks the part. Thursday, he looked the part.
He wore a sequined black coat, complete with black gloves, to the newser. It was as if he found the look in Michael Jackson’s old closet. It was one sign perhaps that he’s ready to be The Mexican Monster, a nickname Mike Tyson gave him. He’s ready to dance the Monster Mash all over Zurdo, who holds two titles yet is still the betting underdog.
“At the end of the day, I’m a bad m-effer, and I like to take the risks,’’ Benavidez said with a characteristic edge that he and his brother Jose Benavidez Jr., say was just part of growing up on Phoenix’s west-side streets.
They survived.
They thrived.
Over the last few years of prize-fighting success, some of that edge has moderated. There’s less trash talk, fewer profanities.
“Yeah, you’re right, we don’t trash-talk like we used to,’’ Jose Jr., a former junior-welterweight champion said. “Over the years, we’ve learned to respect opponents more. If they respect the craft, we respect them. You learn that.’’
David Benavidez referred to Zurdo, a former sparring partner, as a friend.
“I want to give a big shutout to Zurdo Ramirez,’’ David Benavidez said Thursday. “He’s always been a friend. I like him. I respect him and the way he goes about his business.
“That said, it’s time to go to war. I’m going to walk into the fire and walk out of that fire a winner. I like Zurdo a lot. But he’s never seen a fighter like me. I’m different.’’
Different enough, perhaps, to possess the Cinco De Mayo mantle and all that it means.
“I plan to fight 10 more years,’’ I want to be there, at the top, proving myself. I still have to do that. This a step in that direction.’’
Still, there are old rivalries, one intense as ever. For years, a younger Benavidez called out Canelo with one profanity after another. But Canelo would never fight him. That possibility seems to have passed, gone away for good.
But the rivalry has not. It still burns hot. Canelo is expected to be in the arena Saturday. Officially, he’s there to support Jaime Munguia, who is fighting super-middleweight champion Armando Resendiz in the co-main. Munguia is trained by Canelo’s trainer Eddy Reynoso.
But an inevitable question will follow Canelo to his ringside seat. To wit: Is he there to plot his own attempt at reclaiming the date he once owned? Benavidez is promising that he won’t give him that chance.
Even a question about Canelo brought back that old edge in a maturing, wiser Benavidez. The Boxing Hour asked him what he thought about fighting with Canelo in the audience. In part, the bout is a potential passing-of-the-torch, from Canelo to Benavidez. But don’t expect them to shake hands.
As Thursday’s news conference ended, news broke in The Ring that Canelo will come back in September against Christian Mbilli in Saudi Arabia. It’s a sign that Canelo won’t just surrender Cinco De Mayo to Benavidez or anybody else.
“They just announced it today,’’ Benavidez said in response to a question from The Boxing Hour.
“Who wants to see that? You guys want to see that?
“I’m not trying to be a (bleep), bro. But at the end of the day, nobody wants to see that shit. Who’s Mbilli?’’
For now, just somebody else in the way of a Benavidez quest for what he calls his destiny.
