Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez Looking to Make History in WBA Cruiserweight Title Fight Against Arsen Goulamirian

Posted on March 29, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez is looking to make history…

The 32-year-old Mexican professional boxer, who held the WBO super middleweight title from 2016 to 2019 and is the first boxer from Mexico to win a major world title in that weight class, will attempt to become the heaviest Mexican champion of all time when he challenges Armenia’s Arsen Goulamirian for the WBA cruiserweight title on Saturday in Inglewood, California.

Ramirez (27-0, 19 KOs) is a former 168-pound titleholder who will compete at the 200-pound limit for the first time as he looks to make history as the first Mexican champion above 175 pounds.

Mexico’s Canelo Alvarez, boxing’s top star, won a title at 175 in 2019 when he knocked out Sergey Kovalev.

But there has never been a Mexican-born champion at cruiserweight (200 pounds) or heavyweight (Andy Ruiz defeated Anthony Joshua for the unified heavyweight championship in 2019, but he’s a Mexican American boxer born and raised in Southern California).

“It’s something special because we never have [had] a Mexican [champion] that big,” Ramirez told ESPN. “… [A win] will be big for me, for all the fans in Mexico, for all the people. I think it’s history.”

Ramirez (45-1, 30 KOs) suffered his first career defeat when he challenged light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol in November 2022. Afterward, Ramirez moved up to cruiserweight for a 193-pound catchweight decision win over Joe Smith in October.

The cruiserweight division has mostly been an afterthought in the U.S. since it was introduced in 1979. The legendary Evander Holyfield starred in the division as champion from 1986 to 1988 before he moved to heavyweight. And ever since, the cruiserweights have mostly been dormant stateside while being featured across Europe.

“We’ve never had a big, major rivalry or a big-name fighter at cruiserweight the way we’ve had with middleweights and heavyweights,” Ramirez’s promoter, Hall of Fame boxer Oscar De La Hoya, told ESPN. “So I think that weight class just kind of gets lost in the shuffle a bit. But I think Zurdo has an opportunity here … if he looks great.”

Ramirez, who is 6-foot-2½, said he walks around between 210 and 215 pounds and believes he will have more power in his new weight class. ESPN’s No. 6 cruiserweight, Ramirez is a -215 favorite to defeat Goulamirian, per ESPN BET.

Goulamirian (27-0, 19 KOs) hasn’t competed since November 2022 and is now being trained by Abel Sanchez, who built Gennadiy Golovkin into a star boxer.

Goulamirian has made three title defenses, and all but three of his bouts have taken place in France. “This is my first fight in [the] United States and I am planning to put on a show,” Goulamirian, 36, said through his new adviser, Sam Katkovski.

“Cruiserweight has not been a division [that’s] popular in [the] United States, but I plan on changing that on Saturday.”

Joel Iriarte, a 17-time national amateur champion, will make his professional debut on the DAZN undercard after he signed with De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions earlier this month.

Renan Ferreira Knocks Out Ryan Bader in First Round in PFL vs. Bellator Event

Posted on February 24, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Make that four in a row for Renan Ferreira.

The 34-year-old Brazilian professional mixed martial artist (13-3) knocked out Bellator MMA heavyweight champion Ryan Bader (31-8) in just 21 seconds on Saturday in the PFL vs. Bellator pay-per-view in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Ferreira knocked Bader down with a right hand, before ending the fight with hammerfists on the ground in his fourth consecutive win by knockout, three of which came in the first round.

“I am the real problem,” Ferreira said. “I am the record setter. Francis, where you at? I’m the champion out here. I’ve always been ready to fight with the very best in the world. Francis it can be in [MMA] or boxing, whatever you want to do.”

Following his win, talk has begun about Ferreira’s next potential opponent… Francis Ngannou (17-3), who is scheduled to make his second appearance in professional boxing on March 8 in Saudi Arabia, when he takes on former heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua.

Earlier this week, however, Ngannou told ESPN he still intends to return to MMA with the PFL, and said he would likely face the winner of Saturday’s contest between Ferreira and Bader. Ngannou was present cageside during the main event.

Ferreira didn’t waste the opportunity to impress. The fight was essentially over before it began. He caught Bader with the right hand just moments in, after Bader moved forward with his own punches. Ferreira, who trains out of American Top Team in south Florida, has now recorded five first-round knockouts in the PFL, including finishes of 21 seconds, 50 seconds, 25 seconds and 31 seconds.

Ferreira claimed a “Super Belt” in the process, although he does not take ownership of Bader’s Bellator title. The real reward, however, is a future fight against Ngannou, which will also take place on PFL PPV.

Bader, a former two-weight champion in Bellator, saw a three-fight win streak snapped. He’d lost recently at light heavyweight against Vadim Nemkov and Corey Anderson, but had been dominant at heavyweight, including two wins over the legendary Fedor Emelianenko. It is the shortest loss of Bader’s professional career.

Saturday’s event marked the first PPV since PFL acquired Bellator late last year. Bellator champions fared well overall against their PFL counterparts. Welterweight champion Jason Jackson, middleweight champion Johnny Eblen and former champs Vadim Nemkov and AJ McKee all scored impressive wins over PFL opposition. Yoel Romero also picked up a win against PFL contender Thiago Santos.

Jamaine Ortiz to Fight Vasiliy Lomachenko in October

Posted on August 17, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Jamaine Ortiz has lined up his next opponent…

The 26-year-old Dominican and Puerto Rican professional boxer and Vasiliy Lomachenko have agreed to a deal for a lightweight fight that’s targeted for late October, according to ESPN.

No site has been finalized for the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN main event, sources said.

Lomachenko, formerly ESPN’s pound-for-pound No. 1 boxer, last competed in December, recording a unanimous decision victory over Richard Commey. He agreed to a deal for a fight against George Kambosos for four lightweight belts in June, but instead elected to remain in Ukraine when Russia invaded.

The 34-year-old even joined a territorial defense battalion, as did his good friend, heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, who meets Anthony Joshua in a rematch on Saturday.

On Tuesday, Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs) arrived in Los Angeles to begin training camp in pursuit of the undisputed lightweight championship. Devin Haney stepped in when Lomachenko stayed in Ukraine and went on to soundly outpoint Kambosos in Australia to capture the undisputed 135-pound championship.

Haney and Kambosos are set for an Oct. 15 rematch in Melbourne, Australia, on ESPN, and the winner could be lined up for a defense vs. Lomachenko next year.

In the meantime, Lomachenko will prepare for the potential summit meeting with a matchup against Ortiz (16-0-1, 8 KOs), who broke out with a unanimous decision victory over Jamel Herring in May that led to the former champion’s retirement.

Ortiz, from Worcester, Massachusetts, has never faced anyone close to Lomachenko’s level, and even the Herring fight was a quantum leap in competition. Ortiz’s lone blemish is an eight-round draw with Joseph Adorno last year.

Lomachenko, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, lost his three lightweight titles to Teofimo Lopez in 2020 and subsequently underwent surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff. He’s rated No. 2 at lightweight and No. 9 in pound-for-pound rankings.

The chief-support bout is slated to be a featherweight matchup between Robeisy Ramirez and Jessie Magdaleno, sources said, after the sides agreed to a deal.

Andy Ruiz Returning to Ring to Fight Luis Ortiz in September

Posted on June 18, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Andy Ruiz is returning to the ring…

The 32-year-old Mexican American boxer, a former heavyweight champion, will fight Luis Ortiz on September 4 in Los Angeles, according to ESPN.

The fight, which ESPN reported was signed in April, will be a PBC on Fox PPV event, sources said.

The fight will be Ruiz’s first in 15 months, and he’ll enter it with a new trainer for the second time in two fights. Ruiz is now training with Alfredo Osuna after he parted ways with Eddy Reynoso, sources said. Reynoso is best known as the trainer of boxing’s top star, Canelo Alvarez.

Ruiz (34-2, 22 KOs) became the first heavyweight champion of Mexican descent when he defeated Anthony Joshua via seventh-round TKO in June 2019, in a bout that was named ESPN‘s 2019 Upset of the Year. Six months later, Joshua regained his three heavyweight titles with a unanimous-decision victory over Ruiz in Saudi Arabia.

Ruiz admitted he was not in shape when he fought Joshua in the rematch. He weighed a career-high 283.5 pounds and was lethargic during the fight, in stark contrast to the first bout, when he weighed 268 and consistently beat Joshua to the punch with his lightning-quick hands.

The Southern Californian has fought just once since the rematch, a May 2021 decision win over Chris Arreola. Ruiz weighed 256 pounds for that bout but was surprisingly dropped in Round 2 and struggled at times during the first half before he took control.

Ruiz, ESPN’s No. 5 heavyweight, underwent surgery on his right knee in August and will now prepare for just his second fight since he lost his three titles to Joshua.

Ortiz, ESPN’s No. 8 heavyweight, has twice challenged for the WBC heavyweight title, and both times he was knocked out by Deontay Wilder. The 43-year-old was ahead on the scorecards in the November 2019 rematch when Wider scored the spectacular KO.

Since the setback, Ortiz (33-2, 28 KOs) has fought twice. The 43-year-old scored a first-round KO of journeyman Alexander Flores before he met Charles Martin on New Year’s Day 2022.

Ortiz was floored in the opening round and again in the fourth but rallied for a brutal stoppage in Round 6.

The winner of Ruiz-Ortiz will be in prime position for another heavyweight title shot next year. Tyson Fury holds one title, while Oleksandr Usyk and Joshua will meet in a rematch for three belts on August 20 in Saudi Arabia.

Andy Ruiz Jr. Agrees to Fight Against Chris Arreola

Posted on August 15, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Andy Ruiz Jr. has a new challenger…

The 30-year-old Mexican American boxer, a former unified world titleholder, will battle against former title challenger Chris Arreola in a heavyweight bout.

No date and venue have been announced, but the fight is supposed to take place later this year.

“It’s a planned fight. They pretty much know that the plan is to fight each other. We don’t have a set date for that or know what show we’re going to put it on yet,” a source at Premier Boxing Champions tells ESPN.

The Athletic first reported the news.

Ruiz (33-2, 22 KOs) was the Cinderella story of boxing in 2019 after shocking the world by stopping Anthony Joshua by seventh-round TKO to win the WBO, IBF and WBA world titles at Madison Square Garden in New York. Ruiz then lost the belts by unanimous decision in a rematch with Joshua six months later at the Diriyah Arena in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.

After coming in at 268 pounds for the first encounter, Ruiz weighed in at 283.5 pounds for the rematch and was soundly criticized for his training habits leading into that fight. Ruiz replaced his head trainer, Manuel Robles, with Eddy Reynoso, best known for his work in developing Canelo Alvarez.

The 39-year-old Mexican American Arreola (38-6-1, 33 KOs) has been a fixture in the heavyweight division for years. He has gotten two shots at the world title, against Wladimir Klitschko and Deontay Wilder.

After getting stopped by Wilder in eight rounds in 2016, he took nearly a year and a half off from the ring but returned to score stoppage victories against Maurenzo Smith (TKO in 6th) and Jean Pierre Augustin (TKO in 3rd) before losing a unanimous decision to Adam Kownacki last summer.

Norbelto Jimenez to Fight Junior Bantamweight World Titleholder Khalid Yafa

Posted on March 13, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Norbelto Jimenez is battling a champ…

The 28-year-old Dominican boxer is set to face junior bantamweight world titleholder Khalid Yafai in a mandatory challenge bout after their camps made a deal for the fight.

The agreement came on Tuesday, just before the bout was scheduled to be put up for a purse bid at the WBAoffices in Panama City.

There’s no set date for the fight yet, but Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn told ESPN that he might place it on the undercard of unified heavyweight world titleholder Anthony Joshua‘s defense against Jarrell “Big Baby” Milleron June 1 at Madison Square Gardenin New York.

Hearn said if the fight is not on the Joshua-Miller card it would likely be scheduled for another date in June in the United Kingdom.

Yafai (25-0, 15 KOs), 29, of England, has made four title defenses, most recently a unanimous decision over Israel Gonzalezon November 24 in Monte Carlo.

Jimenez (29-8-4, 16 KOs), 28, of the Dominican Republic, hasn’t lost since a four-rounder in 2011, but he also has not faced top opposition.

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