MIAMI, Fla. - On Sunday night at the Univisión Deportes Awards, the world super middleweight champion of the World Boxing Organization (WBO) - Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez - was awarded "Boxer of the Year."

The Univision network, which over the last three years has presented awards to the best athletes around the globe, honored for the first time a Mexican boxer in that category, because in the previous presentations the boxer who secured the recognition of that aware were Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto and the Nicaraguan Román González.

The fact that he was the first Mexican boxer to win a world belt in the 168-pound (super middleweight) division and he who had achieved it unilaterally by defeating then considered one of the best super middleweights in the world, the German Arthur Abraham - earned him the award in a category in which his compatriots Oscar Valdez and Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez were also nominated.

Ramirez could not hide his emotion by the recognition given to him by the television network, which he sees as "a motivation to move forward."

The historic triumph that today puts him down as the "Boxer of the Year" occurred on April 9 in Las Vegas, USA, after twelve rounds in which he worked exceptionally, defeated Abraham with scores of 120 to 108 from the three judges.

An injury to his right hand prevented his debut as a champion in 2016, but recovered from it and now he's working hard to continue to reap success in 2017.

"We plan to return by the end of February, we already have several names out there, perhaps the number one in the world [under the WBO]. We want to fight with the best and people know us even more, " said Ramirez during the awards ceremony.