Ramirez's Adviser: Golovkin One-Dimensional, He's No '85 Bears!

By Edward Chaykovsky

WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (34-0, 24KOs) is hoping to secure a showdown with WBA/WBC/IBO/IBF middleweight champion Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin (35-0, 32KOs).

Last week, Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum - who promotes Ramirez - advised BoxingScene.com that a deal has been agreed upon in principle for a fight with Golovkin in 2017.

Ramirez became the first Mexican fighter to capture a world title at 168-pounds after unseating longtime champion Arthur Abraham in April as part of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley undercard at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Ramirez will make his first defense against Dominik Britsch on July 23 at the MGM Grand as part of the HBO pay-per-view undercard to the Terence Crawford-Viktor Postol unification.

Golovkin's handlers are in talks to face British champion Chris Eubank Jr., possibly on August 27th in the UK.

Sean Gibbons, adviser of Ramirez, is very confident his boxer has the physical attributes and the necessary skills to expose Golovkin's flaws. He feels Golovkin's height of 5'10 and his 70-inch reach will place him at a disadvantage against Ramirez, who is 6'2 and has a 75-inch reach.

Like many others have stated in recent months, Gibbons questions the defensive skills of Golovkin and believes the move in weight from middleweight to super middleweight is the most dangerous in boxing.

“Ramirez has seen everything in the gym and let’s be honest here: Triple-G is a one-dimensional fighter,” Gibbons said to Yahoo Sports. “He’s really great offensively, but his defense is zero. He’s not the ’85 Bears."

“And I think that the jump from 160 to 168 is the biggest leap you have to make. Those guys at 168, they’re walking around at 190, 195. Gilberto has those long arms and while I know Triple-G can crack, he’s going to be getting whacked over and over as he tries to come in. He’ll be getting lit up with punches and he hasn’t been in that situation before.”