Gilberto Ramirez stops Giovanni Lorenzo

By Boxing News - 04/11/2014 - Comments

ramirez63By Jim Dower: Unbeaten #9 IBF super middleweight contender Gilberto Ramirez (28-0, 22 KO’s) kept his unbeaten record with a 5th round stoppage of 33-year-old two-time former world title challenger Giovanni Lorenzo (33-7, 25 KO’s) on Friday night to win the vacant NABF super middleweight title at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

The 22-year-old Ramirez knocked Lorenzo down three times in the fight with vicious body shots, putting him down in the 3rd once and twice in the 5th before the towel was waived by Lorenzo’s corner after the 2nd knockdown in the 5th. The official stoppage by referee Jay Nady was 2:47 of the 5th.

Lorenzo, 33, looked like he didn’t want to be in the ring for some reason. He had the better power and hand speed, but he had problems handling the body from Ramirez. It was a winnable fight for Lorenzo if he had come out aggressive like he used to earlier in his career, but last night he looked like he didn’t have the same fire that he once did 5 years ago before he was getting beaten on a regular basis.

The 6′2½″ southpaw Ramirez showed good power when throwing to the body, but not much power in throwing to the head, and not much in the way of hand speed. He looked decent, but not nearly in the class of the top fighters like Andre Ward, Carl Froch, George Groves or James DeGale. Ramirez is going to need to improve in his speed and punching power department if he’s going to want to compete against the best fighters in the super middleweight division because right now he appears to be a level below the top guys.

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Undefeated super middleweight Jesse Hart (13-0, 10 KO’s) defeated an over-matched Samuel Clarkson (10-3, 6 KO’s) by a lopsided 8 round unanimous decision. the final judges scored were 80-70, 80-70, and 80-70. Hart knocked down a bloody Clarkson in the 4th round two times, and pummeled him in rounds 5 through 8.

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Other results on the card:

Gary Salazar UD 4 Jair Quintero
Egor Mekhontsev TKO 3 Dwayne Williams