By: Hans Themistode
Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez has begged, pleaded, and urged the top names at 175 pounds to step into the ring against him. Although he has yet to lure the current titleholders to ink their names on the dotted line, Ramirez may have forced their hand.
The unbeaten 30-year-old from Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico punished Dominic Boesel during the main event of their DAZN headliner earlier tonight at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.
From the sound of the opening bell, a confident Boesel walked calmly to the center of the ring. Moments later, he was greeted by a stiff jab from Ramirez. As the former 168-pound titlist continued to tag his man, an eye-catching exchange took place as Ramirez connected with a right hand on the elbow of Boesel.
Shortly after, Boesel turned in pain before resuming the action. Round two saw Ramirez overwhelm his man with a barrage of punches as he languished against the ropes. While he was primarily a headhunter, Ramirez refused to neglect working the body, doing so with approximately one minute left in the round.
Although Boesel proved to be game, egging Ramirez on in the fourth round, the hard-hitting Mexican happily obliged, landing pernicious shots against the fringe contender until he was forced to take a knee. Under normal circumstances, when said fighter opts to take a knee, they are immediately issued a standing eight count. However, considering how severely hurt Boesel was, their bout was waved off.
With the victory, Ramirez not only advances his career record to a pristine 44-0, he now emerges as the WBA mandatory challenger to current belt holder, Dmitry Bivol. While Ramirez has stated on numerous occasions that he would like nothing more than to fight Bivol, the Russian native could be forced to take on pound-for-pound star, Canelo Alvarez. The two recently battled on May 7th, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Although he was pegged as a considerable underdog, Bivol rose to the occasion, handing Alvarez only the second defeat of his Hall of Fame bound career. Just mere moments after suffering defeat, Alvarez revealed that he fully plans on enacting his immediate rematch clause, a statement he has somewhat backed away from.
