By Steve Kim
This past weekend in Corpus Christi, Texas, WBO super middleweight belt-holder, Gilberto 'Zurdo' Ramirez (37-0, 25 KO's) successfully defended his title by dispatching the unheralded, Habib Ahmed, in six one-sided rounds in an ESPN televised main event.
So what's next for the statuesque Mexican southpaw?
"He's going to fight in the spring, we're looking for a date, an opponent and we're seeing if we can organize a fight for him in Mazatlan (Mexico)," said his promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, to BoxingScene.com.
Also on this card from the Bank of America was super middleweight contender Rohan Murdock, who stopped Frank Filippone in four rounds.
Arum is real high on Murdock (21-1, 16 KOs) and says the boxer has some drawing power in his country. The plan is for Ramirez to defend his title against Murdock - who hails from 'Down Under' - in Australia.
"Yes,'' confirmed Arum, and added - ''but later in the year."
As for what he thought of Ramirez's outing, the veteran promoter stated - "I thought he was terrific. I've always had faith in him. As soon as I signed him I said,'this is my new Carlos Monzon'. He's a lot like Monzon, he out-sizes his opponents and it's amazing that he has no problem making weight even though he had to take his shorts off. But he made the weight."
Ramirez seems to be developing a more fan-friendly style in recent fights, to which Arum says - "I think he always had that style. The problem is we put him in with all these Europeans and all hey did was run and he had to chase them all over the ring."
Another fight who appeared on the undercard was Jesse Hart (23-1, 19 KOs), who scored a bruising first round knockout. Hart suffered a close decision loss to Ramirez in 2017 and is pushing for a rematch. The WBO has Hart ranked at number one.
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.
