The sixth-round finish looked routine in real time. A closer look told a different story. As Ramirez absorbed a final burst, Benavidez’s right arm came through with a motion that appeared separate from his punches, catching Ramirez and contributing to the stoppage.
The moment split opinion on the InsidetheRing broadcast.
Teofimo Lopez said, “They say that he hit with the elbow at the end. But I even then, though I think that it wasn’t intentional,” said Teo.
Max Kellerman took the opposite view, describing the motion as consistent with inside-fighting habits, where fighters turn short shots into elbows at close range.
The replay has become the focus because the action did not read as a simple follow-through. The elbow appeared to come on its own path, not as the natural end of a punch. That distinction is often the difference between a missed call and a foul.
Unlike an incidental elbow that occurs when a punch overshoots its target, this motion appeared to be the primary offensive action. The arm did not extend into a punch but stayed crooked, leading with the joint.
Benavidez was statistically dominant, rendering the foul theoretically “unnecessary” for the win. Ramirez landed 89 total punches compared to Benavidez’s 151. At the time of the stoppage, Benavidez was ahead 50-44 on the scorecards. It was a clean sweep.
Ramirez, who had never been stopped in 50 professional fights, went down instantly once the impact landed on his eye. This has led to arguments that the stoppage was a direct result of an illegal blow rather than the accumulation of the “machine gun” combinations Benavidez had landed throughout the fight.
Inside exchanges often include forearms and shoulders as fighters work for position. Referees rarely stop the action unless the motion is obvious. In this case, the speed of the finish and the damage already done made it easy to wave off in the moment.
The replay has changed how the ending is being viewed. The finish that looked clean at first glance now carries a question that wasn’t there live.
