By Dean Berman: Former IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux (40-4, 34 KOs) will be coming … read more
By Chris Williams: Top Rank’s “Three amigos,” as promoter Bob Arum calls them, Oscar Valdez, Gilberto Ramirez and Jessie Magdaleno, all were victorious on Saturday night in winning their fights on pay-per-view from the StubHub Center in Carson, California. Valdez (22-0, 19 KOs) successfully defended his WBO featherweight title in beating his #1 WBO challenger Miguel Marriaga (25-2, 21 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision.
By Dan Ambrose: WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (34-0, 24 KOs) feels pretty certain that he’ll be fighting unbeaten middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs) at the end of this year or at the start of next year, but he doesn’t believe he’ll ever face Canelo. Ramirez, 25, has to get past his opponent Max Bursak (34-4-1, 15 KOs) this Saturday night in their fight on the undercard of the featherweight match between WBO champion Oscar Valdez vs. Miguel Marriaga at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
By Dan Ambrose: WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (34-0, 24 KOs) will be making his first defense of his WBO title this Saturday night against #9 WBO Max Bursak (33-4-1, 15 KOs) on Top Rank pay-per-view at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. Top Rank PPV will televise the fight card starting at 9:00 P.M ET/6:00 P.M. PT.
By Dan Ambrose: A year after winning the WBO World super middleweight title last year in 2016, Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (34-0, 24 KOs) will be making his first defense of his WBO belt against #10 WBC Max Bursak (33-4-1, 15 KOs) on April 22 at a still to be determined venue in California. Some boxing fans see Ramirez as the next Canelo Alvarez, but a better version with more boxing skills and more potential.
Ramirez, 25, won the World Boxing Organization 168lb title last year in April in beating former WBO champion Arthur Abraham by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision by the scores 120-108 x 3. Ramirez hasn’t fought since due to an injury to one of the knuckles in his right hand that he suffered while training.
By Patrick McHugh: WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (23-0, 12 KOs) has suffered a hand injury in training for his April 30 title defense against #11 WBO Max Bursak at the Copper Box Arena in London, England.
The injury to Saunders’ left hand was serious enough for the 26-year-old to pull out of the Bursak fight entirely. Saunders suffered the hand injury training, and he’s said to be quite unhappy about it. This was considered a very winnable fight for Saunders, but by no means a wealk in the park for him. Bursak would have been a tough out, and Saunders would have needed to be at his best to get the victory.
With Bursak now out of the way, Saunders is in a good position to fight the winner of the April 23 fight between IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady “Triple G” Golovkin and Dominic Wade. That fight will be taking place in the States at the Forum in Inglewood, California. Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions very much would like to match Golovkin against Saunders if they can’t get a shot against WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in September, which would seem to be the case.
By Scott Gilfoid: WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (23-0, 12 KOs) is eying a big summer showdown with IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs) at Wembley Stadium in London, UK. For that fight to have a realistic chance of taking place, Saunders will need to successfully defend his WBO title next month against #11 WBO challenger Max Bursak (32-4-1, 5, 15 KOs) on BoxNation on April 30 at the Copper Box Arena in London, UK.
That shouldn’t be a problem for Saunders, but you never know. Saunders can’t punch and he’s really little more than a six-round fighter. We’ve seen Saunders’ lack of stamina at play recently in his fights against Chris Eubank Jr. and Andy Lee.
It doesn’t look like the 26-year-old Saunders is improving in the stamina department unfortunately, and you have to figure that this is going to be a career-long thing for him.
By Scott Gilfoid: Well, it seems WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (23-0, 12 KOs) is a little thin-skinned about the choice of his next opponent Max Bursak (32-4-1, 15 KOs) for his fight on April 30th on BoxNation from the Copper Box Arena in London, UK.
Instead of Saunders agreeing with his loyal fans that his opponent is less than a good one, Saunders struck back at his critics on social media today.
Here’s what Saunders had to say about the fans who are taking shots at him about the Bursak fight:
By Adam Beechers: WBO Middleweight Champion Billy Joe Saunders 23(12)-0 held a press conference at The O2 to confirm he would be defending against Ukraine’s ‘Mad’ Max Bursak 32(16)-4-1 on April 30th. The fight will be taking place at Hackney’s Copper Box Arena with its 7000 seated venue.
Following Saunders majority decision win over Ireland’s Andy Lee to capture the belt his promoter Frank Warren had been talking about taking on a few mouth watering middleweights as his first defense.
A rematch with long term domestic rival Chris Eubank JNR, Golovkin mandatory but injured Tureano Johnson and of course the current unified WBA Super, IBF, IBO and interim WBC middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin.
By Scott Gilfoid: WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (23-0, 12 KOs) will be making a soft first defense of his WBO 160lb title next month against #11 WBO fringe contender Max Bursak (32-4-1, 15 KOs) on April 30 at the Copper Box Arena in London, UK. Bursak is about as soft as you can get and still have it as a World Boxing Organization sanctioned fight.
Bursak, 31, has lost three out of his last six fights in the last two years. With that many defeats in such a short period of time, it’s a wonderment that the WBO even has him ranked in their top 15. They obviously must see something in Bursak that I can’t quite understand. I wouldn’t have Bursak in my top 15 or top 50. This is a gawd awful title defense for Saunders. I figured he would go soft in his voluntary defenses of his WBO strap, but I didn’t think he would go this soft. This isn’t even sporting. Bursak has been floundering as of late with his sinking career, and I just don’t see the point in a mismatch like this. Saunders might as well drag Yoann Bloyer (17-27-2) back into the ring for a rematch because the Bursak fight is pretty much the same in terms of talent.
I might have him at bottom 100, but then again I see things from a logical standpoint. I mean, when you lose three out of your last six fights like Bursak, you don’t belong in the top 15. I’m just saying.