Meiirim Nursultanov insists nearly three years without a fight will not matter when he challenges Jesús Ramos Jr. for the interim WBC middleweight title Saturday night in San Diego.
The absence was partly a political gamble. Nursultanov protected his No. 1 WBC ranking while waiting for a mandated fight against Carlos Adames, but purse bid trouble kept that opportunity from materializing. He sacrificed ages 30 through 33 only to return against Ramos for the secondary belt.
“I’ve been preparing and waiting for this opportunity for years. I don’t care about the layoff. I’m ready, and I’m hungry,” Nursultanov said during Thursday’s final press conference. “I’m going to show what the Kazakh boxing school means. My team and I work great together and we have a plan that we’re going to execute.”
The Kazakh approach Nursultanov references should involve disciplined positioning, a strong jab, and control from long range. At approximately 6′, he has the dimensions to make Ramos work before launching his body attack.
Winning the lead foot battle will be critical. Ramos is a southpaw who steps outside an orthodox opponent’s front foot before driving his straight left downstairs. If Nursultanov uses a lazy range-finding jab, he will leave a direct route to his body.
Power presents another concern. Ramos owns an 80 percent knockout rate and has stopped four of his last five opponents. Nursultanov has recorded only three stoppages across his last 10 fights. If he cannot make Ramos respect his power early, the younger man can march through the jab and force an inside fight.
Ramos, 25, has also won four straight since his loss to Erickson Lubin. That defeat exposed his difficulty trapping a disciplined boxer, but his pressure looked more controlled against Shane Mosley Jr. and Guido Schramm.
Nursultanov may have the technique to frustrate Ramos. The harder question is whether a 33-year-old returning from such a long absence can maintain that precision once the pace increases.
He waited years to preserve his title position. Now he must prove those missing rounds did not cost him the very opportunity he was protecting.
Ramos Jr. battles Nursultanov this Saturday, September 19th.
