Notebook: 'Zurdo' demolishes Barrera with body shots in excellent performance

Diaz tops Fortuna; Pascal stripped; Top Rank makes moves

Light heavyweight contender Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez destroyed Sullivan Barrera with an overwhelming body assault in an impressive fourth-round knockout victory on Friday night at the Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles.

Ramirez was headlining the Golden Boy Promotions card on DAZN in his first fight since signing with Oscar De La Hoya’s promotional company in February and the relationship got off to a strong start.

Ramirez, a former super middleweight world titlist, who was in his third fight since vacating his 168-pound belt to move up to 175 pounds, ran roughshod over Barrera, a man he knows well and had once sparred with years ago.

In the third round, Ramirez, a 30-year-old southpaw from Mexico, dropped Barrera to all fours with a left hand to the liver late in the round.

“I was training all the time for that shot. It was beautiful,” Ramirez said.

Having found a vulnerability in former world title challenger Barrera, Ramirez went after his body again in the fourth round and hit the jackpot.

A left hand to the body badly hurt Barrera, who took a step back and went down again to all fours in a delayed reaction. He beat the count but Ramirez quickly nailed him with another left to the body and Barrera winced and backed toward the ropes. Ramirez landed a few window dressing follow-up shots and Barrera went down again, causing referee Thomas Taylor to wave off the fight at 1 minute, 38 seconds as the pro-Ramirez crowd erupted in cheers.

“I think my performance was great,” Ramirez said after getting a big hug from De La Hoya. “I’m taking souls. (Dmitry) Bivol, you’re next.”

Ramirez (42-0, 28 KOs) wants a crack at world titleholder Bivol (18-0, 11 KOs) later this year, a fight that has already been discussed between Golden Boy and Bivol’s team. He would also be happy to challenge unified champion Artur Beterbiev or titlist Joe Smith Jr.

“I feel great at 175 pounds,” Ramirez said. “Everybody sees a different Zurdo Ramirez (at light heavyweight). This is my division. I want to take all the belts. I want to take all the souls of the champions.”

Asked specifically if he was ready for Bivol, Ramirez replied, “You have to ask him is he ready for me.”

Barrera (22-4, 14 KOs), 39, a Cuban defector fighting out of Miami, who was fighting for the first time in two years, mainly because of the coronavirus pandemic, dropped to 1-3 in his last four fights and looked like a shell of the once top contender he was. He had never been blown out the way Ramirez handled him. His other three losses were by decision to Andre Ward and Jesse Hart and a 12th-round stoppage challenging Bivol for his title in 2018.

Diaz outpoints Fortuna

In the all-southpaw co-feature between former junior lightweight world titleholders, Joseph Diaz Jr. won a hard-fought unanimous decision over Javier Fortuna to win the vacant WBC interim lightweight title.

Both fighters had their moments in the high-contact fight but Diaz prevailed by well-deserved scores of 117-110, 116-111 and 115-112.

Per a previous WBC ruling, WBC lightweight titlist Devin Haney (26-0, 15 KOs), 22, of Las Vegas, must defend the title against Diaz within 90 days.

The fight came five months after Diaz (32-1-1, 15 KOs), 28, of Downey, California, failed to make weight and was stripped of his junior lightweight world title the day before fighting to a disappointing draw with mandatory challenger Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov on Feb. 13.

When Ryan Garcia pulled out of the fight with Fortuna (36-3-1, 25 KOs), 32, of the Dominican Republic, to take time off to deal with mental health issues and was stripped of the interim belt, Diaz quickly accepted a deal to replace Garcia. It turned out to be the right call.

Diaz fought most of the fight with a bloody cut over his left eye that was caused by an accidental head butt in the third round.

“I thought, ‘Shit, I hope it’s not as big as the (cut suffered in the) Tevin Farmer fight,’” Diaz said of what he was thinking after he got cut. “But I went to the corner and they said it was all good. It was just a clash of heads. So what I did then was just dictate the pace.”

In the fourth round, referee Raul Caiz Jr. deducted a point from Diaz for hitting behind the head, apparently in retaliation for Fortuna’s head butting.

It was a back-and-forth fight but Diaz was much more accurate with his punches, which also seemed to be more powerful, especially late in the 10th round when Diaz rocked Fortuna.

“He was a warrior,” Diaz said of Fortuna. “I thought I would easily land body shots, but he’s a slick defensive fighter. He’s very talented. I wish him the best and I hope he continues.”

According to CompuBox, Diaz landed 203 of 521 punches (39 percent) and Fortuna landed 193 of 761 (25 percent).

Diaz looked sharp and said he is ready for the bigger names in the division next.

“I want to keep moving forward with my career and face the toughest fights,” Diaz said. “I can fight all these guys. I can fight all the top guys at 135 pounds. I want Ryan Garcia or Devin Haney. Let’s make this shit happen.”

Also on the card:

• Women’s strawweight titlist Seniesa “Super Bad” Estrada (21-0, 8 KOs), 29, of Los Angeles, moved up in weight and handily outpointed Japan’s Tenkai Tsunami (28-13-1, 16 KOs), 36, to take her WBO junior flyweight title. The judges scored it 99-91, 98-92 and 98-92.

• Lightweight William Zepeda (23-0, 21 KOs), 25, of Mexico, was very impressive in a one-sided knockout of Hector Tanajara Jr. (19-1, 5 KOs), 24, of San Antonio, whose corner stopped the bout after the sixth round of the one-sided fight.

• Former junior lightweight world title challenger Lamont Roach Jr. (21-1-1, 8 KOs) 25, of Washington, D.C., knocked out Daniel Rosas (22-5-1, 14 KOs), 31, of Mexico, with a body shot at 2 minutes, 14 seconds of the second round.

Dirty Pascal stripped

The WBA on Thursday stripped Jean Pascal of his secondary light heavyweight world title following multiple positive drug tests for banned substances.

The sanctioning body also suspended Pascal for six months, which only means he would not be eligible to compete in a fight for a WBA regional or world title.

Pascal (35-6-1, 20 KOs), 38, of Montreal, was due to defend the 175-pound belt in a rematch with former titlist Badou Jack on June 6 in Miami Gardens, Florida, in the co-feature of the Floyd Mayweather-Logan Paul exhibition bout.

However, in a series of random Voluntary Anti-Doping Association drug tests in the weeks leading up to the bout, Pascal was positive for four different banned substances and he was booted from the card. Jack instead knocked out late replacement Dervin Colina in the fourth round.

Pascal tested positive for the steroids Drostanolone, Drostanolone metabolite and Epitrenbolone as well as erythropoietin, which is better known as EPO, which can only be taken by injection. Pascal denied knowingly taking any banned substances.

“As stated in WBA rule C.45, no boxer who has tested positive for a banned substance can be ranked, retain a title or participate in a WBA sanctioned fight within six months of the test,” the WBA said in announcing it had stripped Pascal. “For that reason, the title held by Pascal is now vacant and the fighter is subject to random testing, at his own expense, during 2021 and under the direction of the WBA Medical Committee and the WBA Championships Committee.”

Franco-Moloney III card set

Secondary junior bantamweight titlist Joshua Franco and former titlist Andrew Moloney will meet for the third consecutive time in the main event of a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card on Aug. 14 (10 p.m. ET) at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Top Rank announced on Friday.

In their first fight, Franco dropped Moloney in the 11th round and won a tight unanimous decision — 115-112, 114-113, 114-113 — to claim the 115-pound belt in an upset inside the MGM Grand bubble in Las Vegas in June 2020.

Moloney (21-1, 14 KOs), 30, of Australia, exercised his contractual right to an immediate rematch and they met again inside the bubble on Nov. 14 and fought to a highly controversial second-round no decision, allowing Franco (17-1-2, 8 KOs), 25, of San Antonio, to retain the belt. Franco suffered eye damage and was unable to continue because of what referee Russell Mora ruled an accidental head butt that could not be found on video replays. The WBA then ordered them to meet again, which they will do next month.

“I’m very excited for this third fight with Moloney. I’ve been preparing very well for this fight, and I’m feeling stronger than ever,” Franco said. “I hope everybody tunes in come fight night because it’s going to be one to remember. I will remind Moloney why I’m the champ.”

Said Moloney: “I’ve had to wait nine months to once again fight for what should have been mine back in November. There is no way I’ll be leaving that ring without my world title this time. I’m sure when he looks at himself in the mirror, he knows deep down he’s not the real champion. He knows there was no head clash. I’ve stayed in the gym and used this time to improve as a fighter. He is up against an even better fighter than he was the last time around. He’s in trouble.”

In the co-feature, junior welterweight contender Arnold Barboza Jr. (25-0, 10 KOs), 29, of South El Monte, California, will take on Antonio Moran (26-4-1, 19 KOs), 28, of Mexico, in a 10-rounder.

In the opener, Nico Ali Walsh, the 20-year-old grandson of Muhammad Ali, will make his professional debut against an opponent to be determined in a four-round middleweight bout.

On the ESPN+ portion of the show prior to the main card:

• Former world title challenger Jason Moloney (21-2, 18 KOs), Andrew’s twin brother, will face Joshua Greer Jr. (22-2-2, 12 KOs), 27, of Chicago, in a 10-round bantamweight fight.

• Heavyweight Trey Lippe Morrison (17-0, 17 KOs), 31, of Tulsa, the son of former heavyweight star Tommy Morrison, will face an opponent to be named in a six-rounder

• Junior lightweight Karlos Balderas (9-1, 8 KOs), a 24-year-old 2016 U.S. Olympian from Santa Maria, California, will have his first fight since recently signing with Top Rank.

• Heavyweight prospect Jeremiah Milton (3-0, 3 KOs), 27, of Tulsa, will see action in a four-rounder.

Top Rank trims roster

Top Rank has done a little house cleaning of its roster.

The company reached an agreement with welterweight Jose Benavidez Jr. (27-1, 18 KOs), 29, of Phoenix, who had been with Top Rank since turning pro in 2010, to buy out the remainder of his promotional contract, Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti told Fight Freaks Unite.

Benavidez has not fought since welterweight world titlist Terence Crawford knocked him out in the 12th round of a one-sided fight in October 2018. He will return to fight on the Premier Boxing Champions undercard of former two-time super middleweight world titlist and younger brother David Benavidez’s fight with Jose Uzcategui on Aug. 28.

Top Rank also released junior welterweight Elvis Rodriguez (11-1-1, 10 KOs), 25, of the Dominican Republic, a prospect it had heavily hyped until he lost by upset majority eight-round decision to Kenneth Sims Jr. on May 22.

Also, after junior welterweight Julian Rodriguez (21-1, 14 KOs), 26, of Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, suffered an eighth-round knockout loss to former two-division world titlist Jose Pedraza in a step-up fight on June 12, Top Rank elected not renew his expiring promotional contract.

Quick hits

The eight-round fight between popular social media personality and novice cruiserweight Jake Paul (3-0, 3 KOs), 24, of Los Angeles, and former UFC star Tyron Woodley, 39, a Ferguson, Missouri, native, will take place on Aug. 29 — a Sunday night — a source with knowledge of the schedule told Fight Freaks Unite. The bout will headline a Showtime PPV card. A news conference is scheduled for Tuesday in Los Angeles to formally announce the date and other aspects of the event. Woodley will be making his professional boxing debut and will be Paul’s second fight in a row against a former UFC star, having knocked out Ben Askren, a good friend of Woodley’s, in the first round on April 17.

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The WBA on Thursday ordered negotiations to commence between secondary super middleweight titlist David Morrell and mandatory challenger John Ryder. Morrell (5-0, 4 KOs), 23, a Cuba native based in Minneapolis, received an exception to the mandatory to face Mario Cazares, who he drilled in the first round on June 27, with the fight against Ryder (29-5, 16 KOs), 32, of England, having to be next. Morrell, who is with PBC, and Ryder, who is promoted by Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, have until Aug. 7 to make a deal. If there is no deal, a purse bid will be ordered.

Show and tell

Riddick Bowe was coming off having knocked out Evander Holyfield in the eighth round of their third epic battle and was widely considered the No. 1 heavyweight in the world despite not holding a world title at the time. His next fight was not supposed to be all that demanding when he was matched with unbeaten Polish contender Andrew Golota. As it turned out, Golota brought the heat and engaged a diminished Bowe in a slugfest. Golota was ahead on all three scorecards — 67-65, 67-65 and 67-66 — going into the seventh round but he could not stop belting Bowe below the belt. Finally, in the seventh round, when he landed a horrendous low blow that dropped Bowe in agony, referee Wayne Kelly had no choice but to disqualify Golota. It was a move that led to a confrontation in the ring between the camps, which sparked an all-out riot that engulfed the Garden as a shocked national television audience watched it play out live on HBO. That unforgettable fight and post-fight spectacle took place on July 11, 1996 — 25 years ago on Sunday. Here’s a mint program from the fight in my collection.

Ramirez-Barrera and Diaz photos: Sye Williams/Golden Boy; Pascal photo: Amanda Westcott/Showtime