On the same day that WBC and WBA super middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez announced his next fight against WBC mandatory contender Avni Yildirim, he has been called out by undefeated light heavyweight contender Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez.
The 29-year-old Ramirez 41-0 (27), who won the WBO 168-pound title from Arthur Abraham in 2016 and defended it five times before moving up in weight in 2019, sees a fight between himself and his countryman Alvarez 54-1-2 (36) as a natural.
“Anything is possible and it’ll be great for fans if a fight for me against ‘Canelo’ happens,” Ramirez said. “With two Mexicans in the ring, you know it’ll be a war from round one. We’ll see what happens in the future.”
Before that fight can happen though Ramirez has some business to take care of against 2012 US Olympian ‘Sir’ Marcus Browne 23-1 (16) after the WBC recently ordered No.1 rated Ramirez to face the No.4 ranked Browne.
Team Zurdo and Team Browne have until February 5th to work out a deal before it goes to purse bid. Ramirez is promoted by his own company, Zurdo Promotions, while Browne is represented by PBC.
If everything goes to plan for Ramirez against Browne, he will fight with either WBC and IBF light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev 15-0 (15) or WBA titleholder Dmitry Bivol 17-0 (11) later in 2021, pending COVID-19 restrictions.
“I never look past any fight,” Ramirez said. “In this sport, on any given night, the best man will win. All I can do is train hard and prepare myself to be my best for when the occasion arises. Browne, Bivol, Beterbiev or Canelo, it doesn’t matter who I fight; I always train hard to make sure I’m ready when the fight is here.”
In 2019, Alvarez joined WBO titlist Julio Cesar Gonzalez as the only Mexican-born light heavyweight champions of the world when he stopped Russia’s Sergey Kovalev in the 11th round to become the WBO champion. The nine-time, four-division world champion relinquished the belt without defending it.
Ramirez is off to the fifth-best winning streak to start a professional career in Mexican boxing history behind four Hall of Famers: his idol Julio Cesar Chavez (87), Carlos Zarate (52), Ricardo Lopez (47) and Marco Antonio Barrera (43).
The dream match for Ramirez is against Alvarez on either Cinco de Mayo or Mexican Independence Day.
“We’ll see if Canelo is able to do it again (fight as a light heavyweight),” Ramirez added. “He’s already fought at that weight once and I don’t see why it should be a problem unless it was a fluke.
“But I do understand he and his team will have to be a lot more cautious navigating this weight class, compared to the lower divisions, due to the higher risk. Also, we’ve been around each other before and even sparred. He knows I’m not just a Kovalev or a Callum Smith.
“Canelo vs Zurdo will be an instant classic and a great way to showcase top-tier Mexican boxing to the world. I think fans will love this battle between Sinaloa (Ramirez) and Jalisco (Alvarez).”
