By Keith Idec
Gilberto Ramirez respects Canelo Alvarez and wants his fellow Mexican to beat Miguel Cotto on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
His support aside, the unbeaten super middleweight contender expects to surpass even the considerable level of superstardom the 25-year-old Alvarez has attained in Mexico and the United States.
“Of course I know about Canelo and what they’re saying about him,” Ramirez, 24, said through a translator on a recent conference call. “I actually know him very well. I don’t wanna compare myself to him. I think I’m on a good path. I think I will be as known as he is now and I think I’m gonna do better things than he is. I think I’m gonna be better known. I think I’m gonna be more respected. I think, at the end of the day, that’s what we’re aspiring to. We don’t wanna be a good one. We wanna be the best one. So that’s what we’re aspiring to, to show everyone that I’m capable of doing it, that I know I’m capable of doing it.”
Before pursuing those gargantuan goals, Ramirez (32-0, 24 KOs) is scheduled to box the Netherlands’ Gevorg Khatchikian (23-1, 11 KOs) in a 10-round main event Friday night at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas (truTV; 10 p.m. ET/PT).
If Ramirez wins, the powerful southpaw, ranked No. 1 by the WBO, is expected in his following fight to challenge the winner of Saturday’s bout in Hannover, Germany, between Armenia’s Arthur Abraham (43-4, 29 KOs), the WBO super middleweight champion, and England’s Martin Murray (32-2-1, 15 KOs).
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
