By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten former WBO Super Middleweight Champion Gilberto Ramirez of Mexico is back in action this Saturday, December 18th when he takes on Yunieski Gonzalez of Cuba in what’s being billed as a WBA title eliminator. The 12-round light-heavyweight bout from San Antonio, Texas can be seen in most nations live on DAZN. Ramirez last fought in July when he stopped Sullivan Barrera in the fourth round. Gonzalez last boxed in September when he stopped Tommy Karpency in the second round.
The 30-year-old Ramirez is a southpaw who became the first Mexican to capture a world super middleweight title when he beat Arthur Abraham via unanimous decision in 2016 for the WBO Belt. He’ll enter the ring with a perfect record of 42-0 with 28 Ko’s. He stands close to 6-feet-3-inches tall and has a reach of 75 inches. He turned pro back in 2009 and has fought 241 rounds since.
Ramirez possesses pretty good power in his fists and owns a knockout ratio of 66.7 per cent. He’s is a bit of an oddity for such a tall boxer though since he doesn’t always use his height to his advantage. Ramirez often prefers to work his way inside to engage instead of fighting at a safer distance. After beating Abraham, Ramirez defended his title against Max Bursak and Jesse Hart by unanimous decisions and stopped Habib Ahmed in six rounds.
He then beat Roamer Alexis Angulo by unanimous decision and Jesse Hart by majority decision in a rematch before moving up in weight to face Tommy Karpency and stopped him after four rounds. He then stopped Alfonso Lopez for the NABF Light Heavyweight Crown and decided to stay in the 175 lb division. Overall, Ramirez has stopped four of his last six opponents after going the distance in eight out of 12 at one point.
Some of his other noteworthy opponents have been Derek Edwards, Fulgencio Zuniga, Junior Talipeau, and Derrick Findley. Ramirez has gone undefeated up to now basically because of a combination of power, skills and aggressiveness. He needs to tighten up defensively if he wants to remain unbeaten but has displayed a solid chin up to now. However, he may be more effective if he took better advantage of his height and controlled the distance in his bouts.
The 36-year-old Gonzalez, who now fights out of Miami, Florida, enters the ring with a mark of 21-3 with 17 Kos. He stands six-feet-tall with an unlisted reach so gives up four inches in height to Ramirez. He also has good power with a current knockout ratio of 70.8 per cent and has 96 rounds of pro experience under his belt since his debut in 2010 following an excellent amateur career in Cuba.
Gonzalez’s three losses came at the hands of to former world champion Jean Pascal by 10-round unanimous decision in July, 2015 and lost his very next fight to Vyacheslav Shabranskyy by 10-round majority decision five months later. He was stopped in the third round by Oleksandr Gvozdyk in 2017 in a shot at the NABF, and WBO NABO Light Heavyweight Belts.
He won the vacant WBA Fedelatin Title in 2020 when he stopped Alex Theran in the second round. Most of Gonzalez’s wins have been against Grade B opponents such as Karpency, Grover Young, Jackson Dos Santos, and Guillermo Romero. Each time he stepped up in class he was beaten and he’ll be taking that risk again on Saturday night.
Prediction…
Ramirez needs to win this fight to land a title shot and while he’s not always the most impressive boxer in the ring he’s never failed to get the job done. He needs to be wary of Gonzalez’s power and may want to use his size advantage for a change. If he stays focused I’m expecting Ramirez to remain unbeaten but Gonzalez should have his moments.
