Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez claims {that a} battle between him and IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia wouldn’t be a “50-50″ battle for him. Ramirez (47-1, 30 KOs) states that he has “the very best probability” of beating everybody within the division, together with Opetaia (26-0, 20 KOs). Opetaia could possibly be subsequent for Ramirez, so he should again up what he says.
(Credit score: Golden Boy/Cris Esqueda)
Followers imagine Ramirez has zero probability of beating Opetaia and shall be knocked out. Opetaia is seen as a much bigger, stronger, and youthful model of Dmitry Bivol. Ramirez misplaced to Bivol by a one-sided twelve-round unanimous resolution in 2022, nevertheless it could possibly be worse for him if he faces Opetaia.
The 33-year-old Ramirez added the WBO cruiserweight title to his present WBA belt by defeating champion Chris Billiam-Smith (20-2, 13 KOs) on Saturday’s Latino Evening at The Venue in Saudi Arabia. It was onerous to imagine Billiam-Smith was a world champion as a result of he regarded no higher than the British degree.
The cruiserweight division is weak when it comes to expertise, permitting fighters like Billiam-Smith and Zurdo Ramirez to win titles they in any other case couldn’t in the event that they fought at mild heavyweight or tremendous middleweight.
In that battle, Ramirez took many heavy photographs from Billiam-Smith however outworked and outboxed the reasonably limited-looking fighter to win a 12-round unanimous resolution by the scores of 116-112, 116-112, 116-113).
“It appeared like he was throwing onerous punches, nevertheless it didn’t do something to me,” mentioned Gilberto Ramirez to Boxing King Media when requested if he was affected by the punches from Chris Billiam-Smith in his win over him on Saturday.
If Billiam-Smith had a superb set of wheels and higher conditioning, he would have caught as much as Ramirez and harm him with one thing sufficiently big to knock him out. Billiam-Smith was hitting Ramirez rather a lot with punches, however he couldn’t reap the benefits of his energy attributable to his stamina and lack of mobility.
“I don’t learn about 50-50. I feel I’ve the very best probability of beating everybody on this division,” mentioned Ramirez when instructed that followers imagine a battle between him and IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia could be a “50-50” one.
I don’t assume Ramirez has a lot of any probability of beating Opetaia as a result of he’s too sluggish and straightforward to hit. The one probability Ramirez has in opposition to him is that if he can beat him in a warfare, strolling by photographs and outworking him. We noticed how effectively Mairis Briedis did in opposition to Opetaia of their rematch. It’s attainable Ramirez can do the identical factor.
“Everybody noticed what we did within the ring, and now everyone seems to be speaking about me. That is the second time I’ve beat a champion within the division, and now individuals assume I’m the actual deal,” mentioned Ramirez. “I do know I’m the very best cruiserweight within the division.”
Not many followers noticed the Latino Evening occasion on DAZN final Saturday evening. The followers that did see Ramirez beat Billiam-Smith and former WBA champion Arsen Goulamirian weren’t impressed sufficient to imagine he may defeat Opetaia and even be aggressive.
