By: Sean Crose
ESPN will be broadcasting live boxing on Saturday night from Corpus Christi, Texas. WBO super middleweight champ Gilberto Ramirez (36-0) will be putting his title on the line against little known Habib Ahmed (25-0-1). Ramirez, whose known as Zurdo, has been in possession of the WBO strap since he dominated well known German fighter Arthur Abraham on the Manny Pacquiao-Tim Bradley III undercard back in 2016.
Photo Credit: Top Rank Boxing
Ramirez now has two defenses of his title. He bested both Max Burask and Jessee Hart by unanimous decision in 2017. Some have begun to argue that Ramirez essentially isn’t built to thrill, but his undefeated record and outgoing demeanor show promise, especially now that he’s about to appear live on basic cable this Saturday.
Ahmed, on the other hand, is something of a phantom in that it is difficult to see footage of the man in action. With that being said, the native of Ghana has yet to lose a fight and has collected quite the number of stoppages over the past five years.
The super flyweight division will also be on display Saturday when 28-1 Jerwin Anjacas defends his IBF super flyweight strap against 21-1 Israel Gonzalez in a twelve round affair. Anjacas fought as recently as November, when he bested 19-0 Jamie Conlan via 6th round TKO in what was Anjacas’ third fight of 2017.
Yet Gonzalez himself actually fought four times in 2017 (although his most recent fight, in November, was against Reymundo Hernandez, whose record was 0-1). With that being said, six of Gonzalez’ last eight opponents didn’t make it to the final bell. He’ll have his work cut out for him against Anjacas, however, who has won eight of his last ten fights within the distance – and against some impressive competition, no less.
This weekend’s card will be part of a massive deal made last year between ESPN and Bob Arum’s Top Rank Promotions. After leaving a long term relationship with HBO, Top Rank ended up landing at the world’s top sports network, which was open to presenting itself as a major outlet for professional boxing. Saturday’s card will go down at the Bank of America Center in Corpus Christi and will be aired at 10:15 PM, Eastern Standard Time.