Notebook: 'Zurdo' aiming to corner Bivol by beating Gonzalez in eliminator

Ramirez-Pedraza, silver medalist Torrez debut set; TR signs Martinez, matches him with Conceicao; Quick hits; more

Dec 17, 2021

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For months, light heavyweight contender Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez has been chasing world titleholder Dmitry Bivol.

Ramirez has mentioned Bivol constantly and has had his publicist fire out a series of regular press releases in a campaign meant to cajole Bivol into a fight he and his team no longer seem interested in.

Their camps began talking about the fight in March, just a couple of weeks after Golden Boy signed Ramirez. Both sides were on board with the plan to have them each have one fight in the middle of this year and meet at the end of this year.

Bivol, fighting for Matchroom Boxing, looked very pedestrian in a surprisingly competitive decision win over Craig Richards in May while Ramirez looked tremendous in a fourth-round destruction of perennial contender Sullivan Barrera in July.

Ramirez was in all in to challenge Bivol next, but Bivol and his team? Not so much. Instead, they went in another direction and Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs), 30, defended his title for the eighth time in a one-sided decision over Umar Salamov last week in their native Russia with the prospect of a fight against Ramirez no longer part of Bivol’s narrative.

But he soon may not have a choice but to face former super middleweight titlist Ramirez. He is set to face underdog Yunieski Gonzalez in a WBA title elimination fight that will make the winner Bivol’s mandatory challenger. Ramirez-Gonzalez headlines a Golden Boy Promotions card on Saturday (DAZN, 9 p.m. ET) at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.

“Gonzalez is a good challenge for me,” Ramirez said. “This is an eliminator fight. I have been working so hard to get to the world title and I am ready to go through Yunieski Gonzalez to get there.”

Ramirez (42-0, 28 KOs), 30, a southpaw from Mexico, has won all three of his fights since vacating his super middleweight belt and moving up to light heavyweight in 2019. He’d, of course, prefer to be facing Bivol but ended up being matched with Gonzalez (21-3, 17 KOs), 36, a Cuban defector fighting out of Miami, who has won three fights in a row since ending a 3½-year layoff in October 2020.

“Gonzalez was a plan for us after Bivol did not want to sign the fight contract,” Ramirez said. “He is scared to fight me that he went to Russia to fight. Yunieski stepped up to take the fight. I have to respect him for that.

“He knows this is a great opportunity for him. He is coming well prepared to give it his all, and I have to be ready for him. I have to make sure that I am ready because he wants what I have, and this is a big opportunity for both of us.”

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Ramirez believes Bivol is holding out on him because he thinks he can land a fight with pound-for-pound king and undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez, whose opponents earn their biggest paydays.

“I was surprised when Bivol turned down the fight we offered because it was something I thought he wanted,” Ramirez said. “I know he’s a tough warrior and aspires to be the best, which is why I was surprised. He publicly called me out and said that he was ‘ready.’ But unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be the case on his end. Again, in boxing, this seems like a common scenario where a fighter barks and barks, but he can’t back it up when it’s time to fight.

“With this fight (against Gonzalez) in place, Bivol has nowhere to run, and he will eventually have to face me. I’m not sure why Bivol thinks Canelo will face him in the near future. The probability of that happening within the next three fights is very, very low for him. Sadly, I think he’s just the cannon fodder for this scenario.”

Gonzalez, who is best known for a highly controversial decision loss to former light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal in an HBO-televised bout in 2015, is aiming to end Ramirez’s talk of fighting Bivol and land the title shot for himself.

“It’s not a secret that Zurdo is a great fighter; he is in a good position,” Gonzalez said through an interpreter. “I am here with hunger and the desire to win. We are closer than ever to get to a new level of my career and I know that the hunger and desire I feel to win are what are going to be the determining factor in this fight.

“First, they have to go through me before they can get to Bivol. People are talking about it, making an assumption about the direction of the fight, and I leave it and don’t say anything. And people forget that this is also an opportunity for me. This is my opportunity to also be in line for Bivol.”

Ramirez-Pedraza official

Former unified junior welterweight titlist Jose Ramirez and two-division titleholder Jose “Sniper” Pedraza will meet in a 12-rounder in the main event of a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN+ card Feb. 5 at the Save Mart Center in Ramirez’s home region of Fresno, California, Top Rank announced Thursday, making official a fight that was agreed to weeks ago.

Ramirez (26-1, 17 KOs), 29, of Avenal, California, will be returning to the ring for the first time since getting knocked down twice and losing a close unanimous decision — 114-112 on all three scorecards — to Josh Taylor in fight for the undisputed 140-pound championship on May 22 in Las Vegas.

“I am motivated to become world champion once again, and it begins with a tough fight against Pedraza,” Ramirez said. “There are no better fans than the ones who pack the Save Mart Center every time I fight. The Central Valley is my home, and it is always a great honor to perform for my people.”

Former lightweight and junior lightweight world titlist Pedraza (29-3, 14 KOs), 32, of Puerto Rico, has won three fights in a row since a 10-round decision loss to contender Jose Zepeda.

“The new year will bring a big opportunity to battle against a former world champion like Jose Ramirez,” Pedraza said. “This fight is very important for me because I know this will be the fight that will give me the opportunity to win a world title in a third weight division.

“There is no space for a loss. Not on my record, and much less in my mind. I know that Ramirez is a great fighter and always comes well prepared. He always comes in shape to give the fans a great fight.”

In a six-rounder prior to the main event, heavyweight Richard Torrez Jr., 22, of Tulare, California, who claimed the super heavyweight silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics this past summer to culminate an amateur career in which he went 154-10, will make his professional debut in his home region. He will face an opponent to be determined.

“Jose Ramirez has always demanded the biggest challenges, and he’s back in there with a tough former champion in Jose Pedraza,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said. “There are few more exciting atmospheres in boxing than when Jose fights in the Central Valley. The fans there love Jose, and he embodies the region’s blue-collar work ethic. I am also delighted that the Central Valley’s next superstar, Richard Torrez Jr., will make his professional debut.”

Said Torrez: “I can think of no better place to turn pro than in front of my Central Valley friends and family. They’ve supported me my entire amateur career, and I am thrilled that they will see the start of my professional journey.”

The card will also include several other Top Rank prospects: lightweight Raymond Muratalla (13-0, 11 KOs), junior lightweight Karlos Balderas (11-1, 10 KOs), middleweight Javier Martinez (5-0, 2 KOs), and 6-foot-9 heavyweight Antonio Mireles (2-0, 2 KOs).

Martinez’s TR deal starts vs. Conceicao

Junior lightweight up-and-comer Xavier Martinez (17-0, 11 KOs), 24, of Sacramento, California, has signed a promotional deal with Top Rank following the expiration of his agreement with Mayweather Promotions, which declined to match Top Rank’s offer. Martinez will waste no time getting the new deal started.

He will have his first fight against former world title challenger Robson Conceicao (16-1, 8 KOs), 33, a 2016 Olympic gold medalist from Brazil, in the 10-round main event of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card on Jan. 29 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti told Fight Freaks Unite, confirming a BoxingScene report.

Martinez has scored his most notable wins in his last two fights, a 10-round decision over former world title challenger Juan Carlos Burgos in May and a 12-round decision over former interim featherweight titlist Claudio Marrero in October 2020.

Top Rank is very involved in the junior lightweight division, so Martinez fits the roster well. The company promotes Oscar Valdez and Shakur Stevenson, who both hold world titles in the 130-pound division, as well as former titlist Jamel Herring and Conceicao, who is coming off a disputed decision loss challenging Valdez on Sept. 10.

In the 10-round co-feature, former two-time featherweight title challenger Joet Gonzalez (24-2, 14 KOs), 28, of Los Angeles, will fight Adam Lopez (15-3, 6 KOs), 25, of Glendale, California. Both are looking to rebound. Gonzalez took a lot of punishment in a decision loss challenging world titlist Emanuel Navarrete in his last fight in October and Lopez is lost a 10-round decision to former junior featherweight titlist Isaac Dogboe in June followed by a second-round no contest against Adan Ochoa on Nov. 20 on the Terence Crawford-Shawn Porter undercard.

Quick hits

Weights from Montreal for Friday’s TR on ESPN+ card: Artur Beterbiev 175 pounds, Marcus Browne 174.6 (for Beterbiev's WBC/IBF light heavyweight title); Marie-Eve Dicaire 153, Cynthia Lozano 151.2 (vacant IBF women’s junior middleweight title); Steve Rolls 166.8, Christopher Brooker 166.4; Yan Pellerin 199, Francisco Rivas 198.2; Arthur Biyarslanov 139.6, Alan Ayala Crisosto 138.8; Batyrzhan Jukembayev 150.4, Juan Jose Martinez 158.

Kazuto Ioka (27-2, 15 KOs), 32, will defend his WBO junior bantamweight title for the fourth time when he faces Japanese countryman Ryoji Fukunaga (15-4, 14 KOs), a 35-year-old southpaw, on Dec. 31 at the Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, organizers announced Thursday. Ioka was originally scheduled to face IBF titlist Jerwin Ancajas (33-1-2, 22 KOs), 29, a southpaw from the Philippines, in a unification bout but the fight was canceled when the Japanese government recently banned foreigners from entering the country due to the emergence of the Covid-19 omicron variant.

Top Rank announced it has signed Irish amateur standout Kieran Molloy, a 23-year-old southpaw, who is managed by Michael and Jamie Conlan’s Conlan Boxing. Molloy, who began boxing at age 6, will make his pro debut as a junior middleweight in early 2022. Molloy won Irish Senior Elite National titles in 2018, 2019 and 2021. He won 11 national titles overall. He also claimed a bronze medal at the 2018 EU Championships in Spain. “I’m very excited to see Kieran Molloy under the Top Rank banner, and most importantly under the experienced eyes of matchmakers Bruce Trampler and Brad Goodman,” Jamie Conlan said. “Top Rank has certainly found a diamond in the rough. I am looking forward to seeing how they shape Kieran’s career.”

Light heavyweight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (52-6-1, 34 KOs), 35, is scheduled to fight in his hometown of Culiacan, Mexico, on Saturday. He is due to meet David Zegarra (34-6, 21 KOs), 37, of Peru, who has been knocked out in three consecutive fights, in a 10-rounder. Chavez, a former middleweight titlist and the son of the legendary Julio Cesar Chavez Sr., has lost three of his last four fights. He is coming off an eight-round decision loss to former UFC superstar Anderson Silva on June 19.

Orlando, Florida, middleweight Darrelle Valsaint, 19, who represented Haiti at this past summer’s Tokyo Olympics and reached the quarterfinals, has signed with manager Tim VanNewhouse. Valsaint (2-0, 1 KO) turned pro in November 2020 but pros have been allowed to compete in the past two Olympics. His first fight with VanNewhouse is slated for February. “Valsaint has good physical attributes and tremendous ability,” VanNewhouse said. “He’s a sensational boxer-puncher who can fight from the orthodox and southpaw stance. I’ve paired him with a wonderful group of coaches in Tampa led by Marc Farrait and Asa Beard. He’s on the right track to a bright future and I look forward to guiding him on this journey.”

Show and tell

The all-time great Manny Pacquiao, boxing’s only eight-division champion, who retired soon after his decision loss to welterweight titleholder Yordenis Ugas on Aug. 21 to mount a run for president of the Philippines, turns 43 on Friday. Happy Birthday to one of the true legends of boxing. In honor of Senator Pacquiao’s birthday, here is his rookie card in my collection. It is part of a panel of four cards on thin card stock that was inside the February 1999 issue of the monthly Japanese “World Boxing” magazine and meant to be cut out. Mine is still part of the complete panel and still attached to the issue. From 1996 to 1999 each issue contained a panel of cards — 45 panels and 180 cards in all — that would typically feature two Japanese boxers, one retired legend and one active non-Japanese boxer. Besides Pacquiao, the set is absolutely loaded with stars and rookies but the Pacquiao rookie is by far and away the key card in the set.

Ramirez-Gonzalez photo: Kevin Estrada/Golden Boy; Martinez photo: Esther Lin/Showtime; Beterbiev-Browne photo: GYM

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