The unbeaten WBC light heavyweight champion couldn't help but laugh, though, when he reflected on his early experiences in training camps with Ramirez.

Benavidez was just 19 years old when he served as one of Ramirez's primary sparring partners for the Mexican southpaw’s super middleweight title fight against Germany's Arthur Abraham in April 2016.

"I think out of all the champions I've sparred, I probably sparred Zurdo more than any of them," Benavidez told The Ring. "I started sparring him when I was 16, about to turn 17 and the last time I sparred him was 23. When he fought Arthur Abraham, I got him ready for that to fight for the belt.

"Now that I think about it, I kind of got ripped off because I was sparring him the whole camp, 12 rounds for like two months, and got like $3,000. I know I got ripped off because I pay my guys a thousand dollars a week [for sparring]."

Ramirez shut out Abraham, 120-108, on all three scorecards to take the WBO 168-pound championship from him. He defended that WBO belt five times before Ramirez moved up to light heavyweight early in 2019, following another narrow victory over Jesse Hart in their rematch.

Their sparring sessions benefited Benavidez as well.

The Phoenix native was only 20 when he defeated Ronald Gavril by split decision to win a vacant version of the WBC super middleweight title in September 2017.

Benavidez has evolved into one of the best boxers in the sport, No. 7 pound-for-pound according to The Ring, and he will attempt to become a three-division champion when he meets Ramirez at T-Mobile Arena.

"I sparred him a lot, probably like around 300 rounds, something like that," Benavidez said. "But the thing about me is when I spar someone, that knowledge always stays with me. Obviously, he's gotten better and became champion. But I think he was faster back then. The movements I remember. So, all I have to do is go off the last movements I remember from sparring him, and just kind of go off the speed that I remember from it.

"That's going to be enough for me. I'm definitely going to capitalize on a lot of stuff and also the stuff I've been working on now, a lot more than I did six years ago. So, it's just all the stuff I remember from back then, all the stuff I'm studying now and all the stuff I'm learning, and I think I'm going to be levels above this guy."

DraftKings lists Benavidez as almost a 4-1 favorite over Ramirez, despite that he has moved up 25 pounds to fight for cruiserweight crowns Ramirez won by beating Armenia's Arsen Goulamirian (WBA) and England's Chris Billam-Smith (WBO) unanimously on points in consecutive bouts in 2024.

Amazon's Prime Video and DAZN will distribute the bout between Benavidez, 29, and Ramirez, 34, on pay-per-view in the United States ($79.99; 8 p.m. ET). Subscribers to DAZN's Ultimate plan, which costs $44.99 per month in the U.S. and £24.99 in the UK, can watch the four-fight Benavidez-Ramirez show for no additional charge.

"I feel amazing," Benavidez said. "I feel strong, powerful, fast. I feel even faster than ever now. It's hard to believe that I’m faster at cruiserweight than I was at light heavyweight."