ANAHEIM, California – Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez tends to his business thoughtfully, tactically and successfully.
In another business-like effort and what marked his fourth consecutive victory by unanimous decision, Mexico’s unified cruiserweight champion successfully defended his WBA and WBO belts Saturday with a victory by scores of 117-110, 115-112, 115-112 over Cuba’s Yuniel Dorticos.
Afterward, Ramirez, 48-1 (30 KOs), called out IBF titleholder Jai Opetaia, of Australia.
“Yeah, that’s the fight I want,” Ramirez said, speaking about Opetaia. “I’m the king. Make sure you get my phone and call me. I want it. I want it all.”
Against top-ranked WBA challenger Dorticos, Ramirez was content to plot out his opponent in the early rounds.
“It was tough,” Ramirez said. “He can hit.”
Despite showing up on fight night at 220.2lbs to Dorticos’ 208, Ramirez, 34, banked on his youth to even things up thanks to activity against the 39-year-old Dorticos, who has now lost his three title shots.
“I did my job, and that was it. I thought I had the whole fight,” Ramirez said of the scoring. “It is what it is. I keep my belt. I followed my plan, listened to my corner.”
The turning point came in the seventh, when Ramirez rocked Dorticois’ head back with a power shot, kept the momentum in the eighth and, after the Honda Center crowd roared “Zurdo!” in the ninth, saw Dorticos self-destruct when Ramirez sent four consecutive blows to the belt after being previously warned for low blows.
The referee’s one-point deduction of Dorticos in the 10th seemed an icing event, and Dorticos, 27-3 (25 KOs), failed to apply the needed desperation to score a signature knockout.
Since his 2022 light heavyweight title loss to current undisputed champion Dmitry Bivol, Ramirez has followed with three consecutive unanimous decision victories to collect and defend the two belts, doing so previously versus Joe Smith Jnr., Arsen Goulamarian and Chris Billam-Smith.
Ramirez-Dorticos was preceded by a gripping battle in which New Jersey’s Julian Rodriguez scored a knockout of previously unbeaten Avious Griffin with five seconds remaining in the 10th and final round.
Two judges had the scorecards tied 85-85 and the other had it 86-84 Rodriguez going into the final round.
“I knew I had to go,” Rodriguez said. “It was ‘hammer’ time.”
Rodriguez, 24-1 (15 KOs), who defeated WBA lightweight titleholder Gervonta “Tank” Davis as an amateur, engaged in entertaining trash talk with Paul during Thursday’s news conference, expressing determination to give Griffin a stiff challenge on the pay-per-view portion of the card.
Rodriguez’s grit was met by Griffin’s faster, harder power punches in the fourth as a deliberate bout early gave way to exchanges. Rodriguez nearly went down to a knee after one vicious right.
Griffin, 17-1 (16 KOs), responded to Rodriguez’s pressure in the eighth by landing a right hand that sent Rodriguez down – his right knee touching the canvas. Griffin edged Rodriguez in total punches landed, 94-92.
Rodriguez responded with an effective combination in the ninth, backing Griffin to his corner – a preview of the punishing ending that was to come.
In a WBA welterweight eliminator, No. 5-ranked Raul Curiel, of Mexico, scored a fourth-round TKO victory over No. 11-ranked Victor Rodriguez, of Uruguay, after earlier dropping him with a right-handed body shot.
The time of stoppage was 2:09.
The 29-year-old Curiel, 16-0-1 (14 KOs), was coming off a December draw versus fellow Golden Boy Promotions fighter Alexis Rocha, and now enhances his position under new WBA champion Rolando “Rolly” Romero.
“Rollies, where are you?” Curiel promoter Oscar De La Hoya said. “We want [Romero] next.”
Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.
