David Benavidez stepped up his push to become boxing's next Mexican superstar by brutalising Britain's Anthony Yarde in Riyadh and then announcing his next fight for Cinco de Mayo 2026.
The Mexican holiday has long been synonymous with huge boxing cards and has been the sole preserve of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez for much of the past decade.
Alvarez, whose most recent outing saw him lose his super middleweight titles to Terence Crawford, has fought on Cinco de Mayo every year since 2016, apart from 2018 when he was suspended for failing a doping test in between his first two fights with Gennady Golovkin.
Benavidez chased a fight with Canelo for years to no avail before pushing on with his own career and has racked up a string of impressive victories. Going early with a May 2 announcement for an enticing bout up at cruiserweight against another Mexican champion in Gilberto Ramirez is an aggressive and perhaps even provocative statement of intent.
After stopping Yarde in seven rounds at ANB Arena in Riyadh on Saturday, Benavidez said: “I got some news for you guys. May 2, me versus [Gilberto] “Zurdo” Ramirez. I'm going up to cruiserweight to challenge for his titles. I'm excited for that.”
Benavidez said the WBA and WBO cruiserweight title bout would likely take place in Las Vegas. Ramirez's promoter, Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, also confirmed the plan on social media.
In Saudi Arabia, Benavidez extended his unbeaten run with a seventh-round stoppage of Yarde. The 28-year-old, now 31-0 with 25 knockouts, gradually broke Yarde (27-4, 24ko) down with sustained pressure and rapid combinations, leaving the British challenger with a bloodied face in the sixth round before the referee ended the fight in the next session.
The defeat marked the 34-year-old Yarde's third failed world title bid, following previous stoppage losses to Sergey Kovalev and Artur Beterbiev. Despite moments of competitiveness, Yarde spent much of the contest on the back foot as Benavidez's speed and accuracy took control.
“I’d grade [my performance] a B+, I’m not going to lie,” Benavidez said. “There’s always room for improvement. They said I couldn’t stop this guy and I had no power at 175, I made it look better than Beterbiev and Kovalev.”
Haney returns to form on undercard
In the co-main event, Devin Haney claimed the WBO welterweight title by unanimous decision over his fellow American Brian Norman Jr to become a three-division world champion.
Haney knocked down Norman (28-1, 22 KOs) in the second round to seize the momentum and stayed in control behind his sharp jab as he closed out a 114-113, 117-110 and 116-111 verdict.
Haney (33-0, 15 KOs) is a former lightweight and super lightweight world champion. He beat Jose Ramirez by unanimous decision in a 12-round welterweight bout in Times Square in February. He was previously beaten by Ryan Garcia but the result was expunged due to an adverse doping sample provided by Garcia.
Perhaps the fight of the night was between Britain's Sam Noakes and American prodigy Abdullah Mason. The two traded heavy shots throughout with Mason getting a worthy nod after a thrilling bout. Mason had to bite down to cope with Noakes’ brutal body shots but hit back with rapid damaging combinations. All three judges (117-111, 115-111 and 115-111) had it for Mason, who collected the WBO lightweight title to become boxing's youngest champion.
Elsewhere on the Riyadh card, Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez unified three of the four world titles at super flyweight with a 10th round knockout win over Fernando Martinez. Martinez (18-1, 9ko) lost the WBA title in the defeat, which Rodriguez added to the WBC and WBO belts he already owned.
The 25-year-old showed his pound-for-pound class and looked levels above arguably the number two fighter in his division. The victory puts Rodriguez one belt short of the full set. Willibaldo Garcia holds the IBF title, and will defend in Riyadh on December 27 against Japan's Kenshiro Teraji. The winner of that bout would be a logical next step for the hard-hitting Mexican-American Rodriguez.
The specs
Engine: 0.8-litre four cylinder
Power: 70bhp
Torque: 66Nm
Transmission: four-speed manual
Price: $1,075 new in 1967, now valued at $40,000
On sale: Models from 1966 to 1970
If%20you%20go
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Mountain%20Boy
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Company%20Profile
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The specs: 2019 Mercedes-Benz C200 Coupe
Price, base: Dh201,153
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Power: 204hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 300Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.7L / 100km
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
