By Ryan Burton
Earlier today Golden Boy Promotions sent out a press release stating that WBC middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez decided to relinquish his title which freed him from the pressure of following the two week negotiating period mandated by the WBC to come to an agreement to fight his mandatory challenger, WBA/IBF/IBO/WBC interim champion Gennady "GGG" Golovkin.
In the press release Canelo and his promoter Oscar De La Hoya both said that they would still try to make the fight but wouldn't be bound by the time constraints set forth by the WBC.
As can be imagined, Canelo has received a lot of backlash on social media.
Residing one division north of Golovkin is newly crowned WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramírez. The Mazatlán, Sinaloa native made history by becoming the first Mexican to win a world title in the 168 pound division.
The 24-year-old had previously stated his desire to face the hard hitting Golovkin and his promoter Bob Arum has also said on more than one occasion that he is interested in making the fight.
After hearing of Canelo's decision, Ramírez's co-trainer and co-manager Hector Zapari reiterated their stance on facing Golovkin.
"Zurdo Ramírez raises his hand to volunteer to fight GGG and also to be the face of Mexico and fight him. If Triple G really is a pound for pound fighter, Zurdo is here waiting for him," Zapari told BoxingScene.com who reiterated that not only is Ramírez willing but chomping at the bit to get the oft-avoided fighter in the ring.
"Gilberto is anxious to fight a great fighter like Golovkin and it would be an honor to fight him and give the world a great show. Golovkin says he's an old school fighter with 'Mexican Style', well Zurdo is a fighter from the Mexican school that designed 'Mexican Style' and it would be a great fight.
"If Canelo vacated his title because of pressure to make the fight, Zurdo raises his hand. They say no one wants to fight GGG but Zurdo is running to the front of the line for the opportunity to fight him."
Ramírez is currently scheduled to make the first defense of his title against Dominik Britsch on July 23rd on the Terence Crawford-Viktor Postol pay-per-view undercard so a potential Golvovkin fight in September would hinge on Ramírez winning and coming out of the fight injury free.
Zapari understands that Golovkin's priority would be facing Canelo as it would be very lucrative and if not the biggest, one of the biggest fights that can be made in the sport. At the same time Zapari doesn't believe that Golovkin should just wait around for Alvarez.
"We understand GGG's position wanting to fight Canelo because it would be the biggest fight of his career but he can't just stay waiting around for Canelo to make up his mind. Golovkin earned this opportunity to fight Canelo and he deserves it. He would make the biggest purse of his career.
"GGG is at the peak of his career and is ready to fight anybody. If he really is an old school, throw back fighter then he should consider fighting Zurdo," said Zapari.
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