Arum thinks Gilberto Ramirez is on the verge of super-stardom

By Boxing News - 02/12/2016 - Comments

ramirez5By Dan Ambrose: Unbeaten #1 WBO 168lb contender Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (33-0, 24 KOs) will be attempting to make history on April 9 when he challenges WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (44-4, 29 KOs) on HBO pay-per-view on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Tim Bradley 3 fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The 24-year-old Ramirez will be attempting to become the first Mexican fighter to capture a world title in the super middleweight division. The 6’2” Ramirez has his work cut out for him, however, as he’s never faced a quality opponent before, and he looked really poor last year when facing Maxim Vlasov, who he struggled to beat by a 10 round decision in January of 2015.

Ramirez has since changed his fighting style in order to take advantage of his 6’2” height and long reach. Before transitioning to an outside fighter, Ramirez had fought on the inside much in the same way as Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

However, less effective and took constant punishment. In his two fights since changing his style, Ramirez has beaten Derek Edwards and Gevorg Khatchikian. Ramirez has looked good, albeit against poor opposition.

“I have added motivation to win this fight because it means more than just winning a world title,” Ramirez said to ESPN.com. “Obviously, I do know what this is — it’s an opportunity to make history. The opportunity to be the first Mexican super middleweight champion is added motivation for me. It really means a lot.”

I don’t know that Ramirez has the talent to beat a guy like Abraham right now, but I think he can someday rise to become one of the paper champions in the division with the right kind of careful guidance by his 84-year-old promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank. It might take some time, but I think Ramirez can eventually win a title and maybe hold it down for a couple of years if he’s lucky.

I think Ramirez would need to fight a really vulnerable champion in order to become a world champion. I think he would also need poor rankings by one of the sanctioning bodies for him to hold onto the belt. The WBO currently has some poor fighters ranked at the top of their rankings. If Ramirez can beat Abraham somehow, which is possible considering that the fight is being staged in the United States rather than Germany where Abraham lives, then it’s possible that Ramirez could hold onto the WBO title for a while. The WBO’s rankings are filled with largely mediocre fighters at this time.

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Here is the WBO’s top 15 rankings at this time:

1. Gilberto Ramirez
2. Patrick Nielsen
3. Jesse Hart
4. Jamie Cox
5. Blake Caparello
6. Eduard Gutknecht
7. Isaac Ekpo
8. Rohan Murdock
9. Robin Krasniqi
10. Zac Dunn
11. Callum Smith
12. Vincent Feigenbutz
13. Hadillah Mohoumadi
14. Juergen Doberstein
15. Tim-Robin Lihaug

I see most of those guys as poor fighters, and that should enable Ramirez to hold onto the WBO title for some time if he can defeat Abraham on April 9.

Arum thinks that Ramirez can become a Mexican star in the same mold as Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, and he’s already trying to lure IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin to come up in weight to fight Ramirez after the Abraham fight. I’m not sure that I agree with Arum, but it’s nice to wish.

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I see Ramirez as a flawed fighter that is easy to hit, and not particularly skilled. But like I said, I think he can potentially become a paper champion. He might even beat Abraham if he gets the benefit of the doubt on April 9. Ramirez is with a big promotional company in Top Rank, and the fight is being staged on a Top Rank card in the U.S. It might be difficult under all of those circumstances for Abraham to hold onto his title unless he scores a knockout.

“I am absolutely convinced it would be huge,” Arum said to ESPN.com about Ramirez. “It would make him an instant superstar in Mexico and with Mexican-Americans. There’s not even a question. He’d be the [second-]biggest weight champion in the history of Mexico. His fight with Abraham, who’s a damn good fighter, so this is no guaranteed win, is a historic fight.”

I don’t agree with Arum about Ramirez becoming a star if he beats Abraham, especially if it’s a controversial decision. I think Ramirez would need to beat someone good like Golovkin and Andre Ward for him to become a star. I don’t think Ramirez would ever be able to beat those guys, not in a 100 years.



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