Gilberto Ramirez is No. 1 in Boxrec’s cruiserweight rankings despite having only fought once in the division, his 10-round unanimous decision over Joe Smith Jr. last October. 

One has to imagine Ramirez’s lofty Boxrec status is due to his impressive record (45-1, 30 KOs) – which makes him by far the winningest and most experienced of the website’s ranked cruisers – even though most of his fights took place at super middleweight, where the 32-year-old Mazatlan native became the first Mexican to hold a major world title.

After a four-year light heavyweight campaign that culminated in a failed bid for Dmitry Bivol’s WBA title in November 2022, Ramirez has now set his sights on being the first Mexican to win a major cruiserweight title. The 6-foot-3 southpaw gets his shot against WBA beltholder Arsen Goulamirian on Saturday at YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California. (Goulamirian-Ramirez and four other bouts will stream live on DAZN, beginning at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET)

Goulamirian also sports an impressive record (27-0, 18 KOs) but he isn’t in Boxrec’s rankings due to inactivity (he last fought November 2022). He’s not mad about that or the fact that Ramirez enjoys a much higher profile in the U.S. The France-based Armenian has spent enough time in California (where he’s trained with respected coach Abel Sanchez for years) to know that American boxing fans don’t pay much attention to the cruiserweight division.  

So, the brawny 36-year-old is just happy to be headlining a Golden Boy Promotions show against a notable Mexican challenger in his adopted home state. 

Arsen Goulamirian-Zurdo Ramirez meet the L.A. boxing media at their first presser. Photo by Cris Esqueda-Golden Boy Promotions

“My dream was always to fight in America,” Goulamirian, The Ring’s No. 6-rated cruiserweight, said during Thursday’s final press conference at YouTube Theater.

“I met Abel in 2016, he told me ‘Give me one year, and you’ll be a world champion.’ We did it and since then my main goal has been to defend my title in America. I must prove to American fans that I’m the champ.”

Ramirez, The Ring’s No. 10-rated cruiserweight, gleefully stated that his dream is to once again make Mexican boxing history when it was his turn at the podium. 

“I’m excited,” said Zurdo. “We’re ready.”

Is he? Ramirez’s one fight at cruiserweight came against a former light heavyweight titleholder, one who had lost that belt via brutal stoppage to Artur Beterbiev in June 2022. Smith was inactive between the loss to Beterbiev and the Ramirez bout, which took place at a 192-pound catchweight rather than the 200-pound division limit.

However, former heavyweight contender Malik Scott, who assists Ramirez’s trainer Julian Chua, liked what he saw in the Smith bout. Ramirez employed a disciplined and mobile boxing style vs. the hard-punching New Yorker, and Scott believes those same tactics will work against Goulamirian. 

Gilberto Ramirez takes it to Joe Smith Jr. during their 10-round cruiserweight fight. Photo by Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy Promotions

“Abel reminded me that I sparred with Goulamirian and Murat Gassiev a few years ago at his training camp in Big Bear, California,” said Scott, who co-trains Ramirez at Brickhouse Boxing Club in North Hollywood. “He’s a good, strong, come-forward fighter. He’s hungry.

“He might be one-dimensional but he’s fine with that. They don’t try to make too many adjustments. Abel is a good-enough teacher that he knows somebody’s strength and makes sure that they stick to it. 

“Styles make fights, and I believe someone with his style is picture-perfect for Zurdo Ramirez. Coach Julian has been doing an incredible job with Zurdo, making sure he uses his intelligence, but at the same time making sure that in moments, he’ll have to make his stand.

“I personally believe this is going to be Zurdo’s career-best performance. They say the Joe Smith fight was [his best]. I believe Smith is better in some ways than Arsen. If they fought, I’d pick Smith to win. He’s busier than Arsen, he’s got more speed, he’s a little bit quicker at closing the distance. Zurdo dealt with Smith’s quick pressure pretty good.”

Scott says Ramirez has put the work in during an exemplary camp.

“It’s been a very long training camp for Zurdo and he’s been excellent with his drills,” said Scott. “He’s been calm and cool the whole time. He’s been boxing three and four guys a day; Julian’s been having him go 10, 12 rounds. I’ve been giving my input as much as possible. 

“Zurdo’s a well-rounded fighter. We didn’t see it as much when he was a super middleweight, but this fight, as his last fight did, will force him to use his gifts, use his angles, use his pizzazz and his southpaw stance to evade punches and make incredible counters when he can and slow his opponent down by going to the body. That’s what he did to Joe Smith. Going into the Smith fight I told him some guys can take it to the chin, so go to his body. You can hurt tough guys to the body, and Zurdo is an incredible ‘reader,’ he’s very creative from a southpaw stance, this is going to be his best performance. And I say that not because Arsen is bad, it’s just because of the math of boxing, styles make fights. To me, no straight come-forward fighter can beat Zurdo. You gotta have an A, B, C, and D plan to beat a fighter like him.”

Ramirez’s body attack helped him win a wide unanimous decision against Smith. (Photo by Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy Promotions)

Abel Sanchez respectfully disagrees, having full confidence in his training program and his fighter’s abilities. 

“The first key [to victory] is that it’s a 12-round fight,” said Sanchez. “That’s the most important fact for me, because if Zurdo can honestly take the methodical beatdown for 12 rounds, [I’ll give] a lot of respect to him. I don’t think he’ll be able to.

“I’m very proud that he’s the first Mexican 168-pound world champion, because I’m a Mexican, but this time he’s fighting somebody that has my teachings, my style, my ‘Mexican style’ that I like to teach my guys who are aggressive, so Arsen is going to be right in front of him and if he can take it for 12 rounds, more power to him.

“I don’t think he beats us, but then again he is an ex-world champion, so he’s a formidable foe.”

Scott spoke of styles, noting that a versatile boxer will beat a one-dimensional come-forward fighter. Sanchez seems to be saying it all depends on how strong that one dimension is, alluding to that old axiom ‘pressure busts pipes.’ 

“Arsen’s style, my style, is pressure,” Sanchez said. “Pressure. We’re right in front of you. Arsen’s strength – I think all my guys’ strength – is their presence. Their presence is their strength. If Zurdo can deal with that presence, he’s going to have to throw punches, and of course it’s going to be a good fight. But in the middle of those punches, he’s going to have to deal with what’s coming back at him and I think eventually, as the fight goes on, it’s going to be too much for him.”

Regardless of which trainer turns out to be correct, it should be an interesting and entertaining clash of styles/ring mentalities. 

Arsen Goulamirian, known as “Feroz” is used to breaking down his competition in ferocious fashion.

In the co-featured bout of the Golden Boy/DAZN broadcast, Alexis Rocha (23-2, 15 KOs), The Ring’s No. 8-rated welterweight, takes on Fredrick Lawson (30-4, 22 KOs) in a scheduled 10-round bout. 

It will be Rocha’s first bout since suffering a brutal sixth-round KO to Giovani Santillan last October. Lawson, a 34-year-old veteran from Ghana, was last seen being stopped in the opening round against Vergil Ortiz in January. The KO was controversial on two fronts: 1. It was egregiously premature, and 2. Referee Tony Weeks claimed (in a since-deleted Facebook post) that two “brain scans” had revealed that Lawson had an “aneurysm” going into the DAZN-streamed main event from Las Vegas. 

Needless to say, the Nevada State Athletic Commission released a statement that Lawson had been medically cleared to fight by a commission doctor and Weeks hasn’t been heard from. However, given the California State Athletic Commission’s commitment to the health and safety of combat sport athletes, one would assume that Lawson has been closely examined going into Saturday’s show. 

Also on the DAZN portion of the show, Ricardo Sandoval (23-2, 16 KOs), The Ring’s No. 8-rated flyweight, takes on well-traveled Nicaraguan veteran Carlos Buitrago (38-12-1, 22 KOs) in a scheduled 10-round bout. 

Santiago Dominguez (26-0, 20 KOs), a welterweight fringe contender from Sonora, Mexico, and former U.S. amateur star Joel Iriarte (1-0, 1 KO) kick-off the broadcast.

Iriarte, a 20-year-old welterweight from Bakersfield, California, turned pro on the William Zepeda-Maxi Hughes undercard on March 16. 

“Boxing is a lifestyle,” said Iriarte, a multi-time national amateur champ and Pan-American Games gold medalist. “We stay in the gym, so we don’t need six weeks to prepare for a fight, we don’t even need two weeks. I want to be as active as possible.”

Big things are expected of this young man, so it’s nice to know he’s an #ActivityMatters advocate (shout out to Steve Kim).

Canadian light heavyweight prospect Kareem Hackett (12-0, 6 KOs) and Santa Ana-based lightweight Jonathan Canas (3-0, 2 KOs), a stablemate of Rocha, are on the non-DAZN undercard. 

***

During the Goulamirian-Ramirez press conference, Golden Boy Promotions announced a multi-year, multi-event partnership deal with Hollywood Park venues, which includes YouTube Theater, Hollywood Park casino, and SoFi Stadium.

The agreement means more Golden Boy fight cards at the 6,000-seat YouTube Theater each year, and the potential opportunity to one day bring a superfight to the 70,000-seat SoFi Stadium. 

Adolfo Romero and Oscar De La Hoya. Photo by Cris Esqueda-Golden Boy Promotions

“We are proud to have a championship partner in our corner with Golden Boy Promotions,” said Adolfo Romero, Vice President, Programming and Booking for YouTube Theater at Hollywood Park. “YouTube Theater is the first Los Angeles venue to ink a multi-year agreement with a boxing promoter showcasing our commitment to this sport, and leveraging our year-round events at SoFi Stadium and across Hollywood Park to continue our diverse programming strategy.”

Some of the mega-events coming to SoFi Stadium over the next few years include the Copa America international soccer competition (summer 2024), the World Cup (summer 2026), the Super Bowl (2027) and the opening ceremonies of the 2028 Olympic Games. 

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