Photos: Gilberto Ramirez Putting in Work For Bursak Defense

WBO Super Middleweight World Champion Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez runs the strand of Hermosa Beach in preparation for his title defense against Max Bursak of Ukraine at Stub Hub, Carson Ca. April 22, 2017. Photos by Mikey Williams/Top Rank.

Undefeated World Boxing Organization (WBO) world champions ÓSCAR VALDEZ, GILBERTO "Zurdo" RAMÍREZ  and JESSIE MAGDALENO will headline an exciting world championship event in separate title defenses, Saturday, April 22, under the stars at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. Produced and distributed live by Top Rank Pay-Per-View, the telecast will also feature the pro debut of U.S. Olympic silver medalist SHAKUR STEVENSON, in a six-round featherweight bout. 

The live pay-per-view telecast will begin at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT. and will be available on all conventional platforms, including all major cable and satellite systems, as well as Top Rank's digital distribution via www.TopRank.tv and mobile devices.

Valdez (22-0, 19 KOs), from Nogales, México, will be making the second defense of his WBO featherweight title against No. 1 contender and NABO champion Miguel "Escorpión" Marriaga (25-1, 21 KOs), from Arjona, Colombia; Ramírez (34-0, 24 KOs), from Mazatlán, México, will be making his first defense of the WBO super middleweight title against Top-10 contender Max "Tiger" Bursak (33-4-1, 15 KOs), of Kiev, Ukraine; Magdaleno (24-0, 17 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nev., will be making the first defense of his WBO junior featherweight title against WBO Latino champion Adeilson "Dell" Dos Santos (18-2, 14 KOs), of São Paulo, Brasil, and Stevenson, the crown jewel of the 2016 U.S. Olympic team and the pride of Newark, NJ, will be making his eagerly-awaited professional debut in a four-round featherweight bout.

The six world championship warriors have a combined record of 156-7-1 for a winning percentage of 95% with a victory by knockout ratio of 71%.

"I feel very happy and I'm thankful for the opportunity of defending my title for the first time," said Ramírez.  "I'm motivated and I feel  a great desire to return to the ring.  I have been active in my hometown of Mazatlán and training like if I was going to fight.  Now I'm ready to fight!  I feel 100% recovered from the injury in my hand. I feel better than ever and with more confidence in my punching power."

"On April 22 I will give the fans an explosive fight with lots of action.  Max Bursak is a solid strong fighter.  He is a brawler and he is coming with hunger of triumph for all the Ukrainians.  It will be very good for three Mexicans to be defending our titles on the same card and even more here, in California, where there is a big boxing fan base."

 Ramírez (34-0, 24 KOs), a two-fisted super middleweight wrecking machine who hails from Mazatlán, México, made history in the co-main event to the Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley welterweight pay-per-view on April 9, 2016, when he became México's first fighter to win a super middleweight world title.  Entering the fight as the top world-rated contender, Ramirez gave a virtuoso performance over the defending WBO champion Arthur  Abraham. 

All three judges scored it as a 120-108 blitzkrieg.  "I took him to Méxican boxing school," a jubilant Ramírez boasted as he put on the world championship belt .  A sensational young champion, Ramírez, 25, had been scheduled to make his first title defense last July, but a training camp injury to his right hand followed by surgery and rest sidelined him for the remainder of the year. 

He returns to the ring having won four of his last eight bouts by knockout.  Career-highlight performances include an NABF and NABO title victory over Giovanni Lorenzo via fifth-round stoppage, a WBO International title knockout victory over Junior Talipeau and a successful defense of his NABF and WBO International titles, stopping Fulgencio Zuniga in the eighth round, all in 2014.  In 2015, he successfully defended his titles via unanimous decisions over once-beaten Maxim Vlasov, division gate keeper Derek Edwards, who boasts a KO victory over world champion Badou Jack, and once-beaten Gevorg Khatchikian, who had scored knockouts in five of his last six victories.

Bursak (33-4-1, 15 KOs), from Kiev, Ukraine, will be making his U.S. debut.  A former European middleweight champion and one-time WBO interim middleweight world title challenger, Bursak, 32, enters this fight having scored three of his last four victories by way of knockout and is world-rated No. 10 by the WBO.