By Allan Fox: #1 WBO super middleweight contender Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (33-0, 24 KOs) says he’s interested in fighting IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs) at some point. Ramirez has a fight for a title against WBO 168lb champion Arthur Abraham (44-4, 29 KOs) on April 9 on HBO pay-per-view.
If the 24-year-old Ramirez wins that fight, he would be happy to face Golovkin at super middleweight. Ramirez’s promoter Bob Arum is on board with matching the 6’2” Ramirez against Golovkin if they both win their next fights. Arum believes that Ramirez would have too much for Golovkin.
“I want [to fight Golovkin], because he’s the best,” Ramirez said to esnewsreporting. “I want to fight with the best in my division. I want to fight with you, Gennady. For now, we stay focused on April 9.”
This would be a good fight potentially, because Ramirez has improved a lot over the last year. If he can keep getting better, then he could wind up as the best fighter in the super middleweight division. It would be a difficult fight for the 5’10” Golokvin to deal with the height and reach that Ramirez commands in the ring. Golovkin hasn’t had to face a guy with the kind of size that Ramirez has.
The closest that Golovkin has come to fighting a guy with the kind of size that Ramirez has is when he beat the 6’1 ½” Nobuhiro Ishida by a 3rd round knockout in 2013. Ishida was quickly knocked out by Golovkin before he even had a chance to get fully warmed up in the fight. The difference between Ishida and Ramirez is the punching power that Ramirez has. He’s a much better puncher than the Japanese fighter, and it would be a lot more difficult for Golokvin to duplicate his efforts against him if he even could.
When asked who he sees winning between the Golovkin vs. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez fight, Ramirez said “My heart is with the Mexican, but Gennady is strong.”
Ramirez is logical in predicting that Golovkin’s strength would be a huge problem for Canelo to deal with if that fight ever comes off. It might not take place in 2016. Golden Boy Promotions might drag it out for a year or more to wait until Golovkin ages more so that Canelo would have a better chance of winning.
Fighting at a catch-weight of 155lbs might not be enough for Canelo to win the fight. He might need to wait a couple of years for Golovkin to age and lose some of his skills before the two of them wind up facing each other inside the ring.
If Golovkin were to move up to the super middleweight division to fight Ramirez, he would take a lot of criticism from boxing fans for choosing to fight in the division against an inexperienced fighter like Ramirez. Andre Ward had been calling Golovkin out last year in a fight at super middleweight, but Golovkin chose not to take the fight. If Golovkin fights Ramirez at super middleweight, it’s just going to make him look like a ducker.
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