Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez (44-0, 30 KOs) resembled a slow, plodding cruiserweight last Saturday night in calling out WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol following his unimpressive fourth-round knockout over Dominic Boesel (32-3, 12 KOs) in the main event at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.
The win for Zurdo Ramirez earned him the WBA mandatory spot to put him in a position to eventually challenge Bivol for his 175-lb title. However, no one was talking about Ramirez’s performance after the fight, as it was so poor that it was beyond words. Ramirez is easy prey for Bivol, and it won’t even be remotely competitive.
One of Ramirez’s promoters at Golden Boy Promotions needs to take a good look at him and steer him in the diction of WBC cruiserweight champion Ilunga Makabu. That’s a winnable fight for Zurdo Ramirez, but definitely NOT WBC 175-lb champion Bivol.
“I feel great about my performance. I trained way too hard for this position, and no one will take it from me,” said Zurdo Ramirez after his win over little-known Boesel last Saturday night.
“I used my distance more, and I attacked the body more. I know my last fight was tough, but I was really prepared for this one. I ate more tacos for this fight.”
Ramirez will be embarrassed worse than Canelo Alvarez was if and when he faces Bivol because he’s way too slow & ponderous to beat a fighter with that talent.
What’s really troubling is why the World Boxing Association had Boesel ranked #1 with their organization, fighting in a title eliminator against #2 Ramirez? Where did the WBA find Boesel, and who did he beat for him to be given the #1 ranking?
The Ramirez looked last night, I think he would have lost to these contenders: Joshua Buatsi, Callum Smith, Anthony Yarde, Marcus Browne, Maxim Vlasov, Callum Johnson, and Craig Richards.
Ramirez looks too slow for a fast combination puncher like Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) and it’s impossible to imagine any scenario where he can beat the WBA 175-lb champion.
When Ramirez used to campaign as a super middleweight, he overwhelmed his opponents with his work rate and size. Back then, he was able to throw a lot of shots, but not anymore. In bulking up to 200+ lbs, Zurdo Ramirez is so slow that he’s no longer capable of throwing with the volume that he was known for during his best years as the WBO 168-lb champion.
Boesel, who resembled a second-tier fighter at best, was picking Ramirez off from time to time with his shots. If a mediocre fighter like Boesel was able to do that to Zurdo, you can only imagine what Bivol would do to him.
Weighing an absurd 204 lbs after rehydrating from 175 lbs, Ramirez slowly ground down the considerably smaller German light heavyweight Boesel until scoring a knockout in the fourth round in their headliner on DAZN.
“I feel this is my natural weight. Everyone knows I want Bivol,” said Ramirez. “He needs to stop running and sign the contract. I’m coming for you and that belt. I deserve that fight. I think I can beat him since I’m bigger, stronger, and smarter.”
How can the light heavyweight division [175] be Ramirez’s “Natural weight” if he’s rehydrating to 204 lbs? I mean, come on.
It’s anyone’s guess why Ramirez wants to campaign at 175 rather than at cruiserweight, which is arguably where he should be fighting, given his huge weight. That must have been a real ordeal for Ramirez to drain down to 175 and then rapidly put 29 lbs back on overnight
