By Dan Ambrose: The Top Rank promoted #1 WBO 168lb contender Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (33-0, 24 KOs) has one month to go before he challenges WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (44-4, 29 KOs) on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Tim Bradley 3 fight on HBO PPV on April 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ramirez, 6’2”, is being thrown to the wolves so to speak with him being put in with the 35-year-old Abraham in this fight. Ramirez, 24, has little in the way of experience at the pro level.
The experience Ramirez has going for him consists of his fight against fringe contender Maxim Vlasov last year in January 2015 in a fight that Ramirez barely won by a 10 round decision. Ramirez was quickly backed off from stiff competition after that fight, and he’s looked a lot better against the two poor opponents he’s been in with.
Ramirez’s 84-year-old promoter Bob Arum believes that he is capable of beating Abraham and becoming a star. I don’t agree with Arum, but then again I didn’t invest in Ramirez. I just see him what he is. He’s a straight up and down fighter with poor defensive skills, average hand speed, and a bad habit of giving up his height too easily by trying to fight on the inside.
“We will be ready on April 9 to become world champion,” said Ramirez to fightnews.com. “I know that I am facing a great champion in Abraham and that I will need to be at my best to beat him and that motivates to work hard. I also want to make history by becoming the first Mexican Super middleweight champion,” said Ramirez.
I am wondering if this fight is going to have a controversial outcome. I have seen some very controversial decisions over the years, and you just never know. If I were Abraham, I would be looking to make sure the judges do not get a chance to score the fight because you never know. Abraham is the visiting fighter from Germany, and I just have a feeling as he may wind up on the losing end up a controversial decision in this fight.
Abraham has punching power going for him, but I do not know if he’s going to be able to score a knockout. Abraham has not shown to be a knockout puncher since he moved up in weight to the super middleweight division. At middleweight, Abraham was a knockout puncher, but at super middleweight, he clearly is not a guy that gets a lot of knockouts.
Arum really believes in Ramirez, but I do not see that talent there in him. Ramirez reminds me of a poor version of Callum Smith. I think Smith is a good fighter, but not a great one. Nevertheless, I rate Ramirez even behind Smith, and that tells you how much I think of Ramirez. Arum is talking about wanting to match Ramirez with Golovkin if everything goes right on April 9.
I do not think Golovkin would take that fight. Ramirez is not a big name, and even if he beats Abraham, I have a feeling it is going to be one of those controversial wins. The stink from a controversial decision will make Ramirez look like illegitimate champion. I do not think Golovkin would want to be mixed up in facing Ramirez if he is not seen as a true champion.
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