By Jake Donovan
A deadline is in place for super middleweight titlist Arthur Abraham and unbeaten Gilberto Ramirez to work out terms for their mandatory title fight. The two sides are feverishly working in order to reach an agreement prior to January 8, at which point a purse bid hearing will be held at World Boxing Organization (WBO) headquarters in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Enough hope remains to where an extension could be offered in order to give both sides the necessary time to firm up details.
"This is a fight we would really love to get for Gilberto and one that we hope to bring to the United States," Bob Arum, Ramirez' stateside promoter told BoxingScene.com. "We have been in constant communication with (Sauerland Event, Abraham's promoter).
"If it goes to a purse bid, we'll have to take our chances there. But the sense I get is that everyone wants this fight and that we can come to a reasonable conclusion."
Sources have alerted BoxingScene.com of two points of contention on which both sides remain hesitant to enter an agreement.
The primary issue is location. Sauerland Event naturally wants the fight to take place in Germany, where the company serves as the nation's leading promoter and where Abraham has developed into a sizeable draw. Conversely, Ramirez' camp would like to bring the bout over to either Mexico or the United States, with Arum interested in staging the event on the April 9 Pay-Per-View show headline by the third fight between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley Jr. in Las Vegas.
A secondary concern has been discussion of an immediate rematch, though such clauses are not recognized by sanctioning bodies. Abraham's team would be more opt to consider a road trip to the United States with the safety net of a rematch to take place in Germany.
For now, the main focus is placed on making the fight happen. The belief is that the two camps are close.
Abraham (44-4, 29KOs) continues to shine at a point in his career where most figured he'd have been long ago finished at the championship level. The three-time titlist over two weight classes - who turns 36 in February - scored decisions wins over Paul Smith, Robert Stieglitz and Martin Murray to run his total to five successful defenses in his second tour as a super middleweight titlist.
His win over Smith was a rematch to their close affair in September '14, whereas 6th round knockout of Stieglitz provided absolute closure to their four fight series. The title changed hands in each of their first three fights, but Abraham has emphatically proven to be the far fresher fighter of the two following his knockout win last July.
A split decision win over Murray, however, raised a few questions as to how much longer he can extend his reign. Abraham was forced to rally late in pulling out the razor thin win, which came one night after Ramirez (33-0, 24KOs) wrapped up his own three-win campaign in 2015.
The unbeaten boxer from Mexico advanced from prospect to contender following a knockout of Fulgencio Zuniga in Nov. '14. The past calendar year was about further establishing his brand and positioning him for a title shot in 2016.
His run in 2015 saw three consecutive 10-round decisions, outpointing the trio of Maxim Vlasov, Derek Edwards and Gevorg Khatchikian. The win over Khatchikian came with the understanding that Abraham was on deck, with the two sides entering negotiations in early December.
While the respective camps remain on the clock to work out a deal, the hope on the Top Rank side is that said fight is the starting point towards establishing their next superstar.
"The major market in boxing is the Hispanic audience," Arum notes. "The overall largest percentage of boxing consumers are Hispanic. If he can beat Arthur Abraham - with his looks and personality - this kid can really become a major star.
"That's how we do things at Top Rank. We are in the business of developing fighters and building stars, guys that sell tickets and Pay-Per-View buys.”
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
