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Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez remains driven to become undisputed light heavyweight champion.
The unbeaten former WBO super middleweight titlist is prepared to flatten everyone in his path. The first on that list is Germany’s Dominic Boesel (32-2, 12KOs), the next opponent for Ramirez and with whom he has no desire to share the ring for very long.
“I’m looking for a knockout,” Ramirez confessed to reporters during a Zoom media conference call to discuss the May 14 DAZN main event. “I’m looking for an early knockout and believe I will do it. I’ve put in a lot of work in this training camp. I’ve been working more than other training camps.
“I put in a lot of hard work and into these hands. I’m looking forward to May 14 and this fight.”
The bout—which takes place at Toyota Arena in Ontario, California—serves as a final eliminator for the WBA light heavyweight title. The belt is stake this weekend as defending titlist Dmitry Bivol (19-0, 11KOs) faces undisputed super middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (57-1-2, 39KOs), who moves up in weight for their DAZN Pay-Per-View main event this Saturday from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
A win by Alvarez will functionally leave the belt in limbo, as he plans to next face IBF/WBA middleweight titlist Gennadiy Golovkin (42-1-1, 37KOs) who will move up in weight for their targeted September 17 trilogy bout. A win by Bivol could be of benefit to the Ramirez-Boesel winner, who will be the mandatory challenger.
Also ahead is the yet-to-be-announced June 18 championship clash between lineal/WBC/IBF champ Artur Beterbiev (17-0, 17KOs) and WBO titlist Joe Smith Jr. (28-3, 22KOs).
Ramirez (43-0, 29KOs) is currently ranked in the top four by the WBA (#2), IBF (#4) and WBO (#2). A shot at a second divisional title is bound to come for the 30-year-old southpaw from Mazatlan, Mexico, who plans to keep building intrigue for such a moment.
“It’s important to keep knocking these guys out and putting on a show for the fans,” insisted Ramirez, who has stopped all four opponents at light heavyweight since moving up in 2019. “I want to make it exciting while I wait for my title fight. That’s what I want, to knock out all these guys.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
