Ramirez Outclasses Abraham

By Marc Livitz: The evening’s co-main event was a showcase win for Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez as he fought a beautifully one sided bout against Arthur Abraham for the WBO super middleweight title.

Ramirez(34-0, 24 KO’s) held a nearly six inch height advantage in the contest, yet his wide stance and long, rangy style almost negated the upper hand. He steadily jabbed and did so with great form. For the majority of the first three minutes, Abraham (44-5, 29 KO’s) held his guard high and tight with elbows firmly tucked. Southpaw "Zurdo" Ramirez utilized his right jab and doubled with the hook in the second. With under thirty seconds remaining in the period, Arthur landed his initial meaningful punch of the early moments of the contest by way of counter right hook. It didn’t matter very much, as Ramirez returned the favor just moments later and to slightly greater effect.

Throughout much of the following rounds, Abraham continued to play possum with his Mexican opponent. He was able to take whatever Gilberto threw at him with enough time to spare and adjust his trunks. He landed a quick body shot towards the end of the fourth and connected with a few right handed punches. A low blow blighted an otherwise clinical fifth for Ramirez, who was now controlling the pace as well as he was racking up points with his consistent shots.

His attention was required halfway through the seventh as his Armenian opponent caught him with a few hard rights to the head. He countered this by way of his hard lefts to the body. With fifty percent of the contest now in the bag, "Zurdo" Ramirez was clearly ahead to most eyes but he wasn’t fighting like it. The high punch output continued as Arthur Abraham followed him around the ring. In the closing moments of the seventh, an overhand right to the head made the off-balance Abraham take a few steps in a backward stumble.

As the last quarter of the bout got rolling, Ramirez continued to connect while Abraham continued to wait...and wait. As so many had seen throughout his decorated career in previous bouts, there was nothing new when he decided to come on late, but by the end of the tenth, he was clearly running out of time. Throughout the final two, uneventful rounds and much to his credit, Gilberto Ramirez chose not to hit the cruise control button as he continued to tag one of the most feared fighters in recent years.

For his efforts, he’d leave the ring with his first majorly sanctioned world title. All three judges (Adalaide Byrd, Glen Feldman and Glenn Trowbridge) saw the bout as an easy 120-108 wash for Gilberto Ramirez, who became the first Mexican fighter to win a title at such a high weight division.

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April 9, 2016