OK, let’s figure this out.
Gilberto Ramirez is 31 years old. He’s unbeaten in 44 fights.
He’s certainly talented and it wouldn’t be a stretch to label him charismatic.
So why isn’t he a mainstream star in today’s boxing galaxy?
Good question.
Then just shy of 25, the lanky Mexican southpaw exited the MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 9, 2016, with the WBO’s super middleweight strap across his shoulder, thanks to an impressive 12-round shutout over veteran two-division champ Arthur Abraham.
It was Abraham’s 23rd title fight. It was Ramirez’s first.
And because it came on the undercard of a Manny Pacquaio fight – in which the Filipino completed his trilogy with Tim Bradley – it seemed high time for an ascension at 168 pounds.
Didn’t happen.
Though he successfully defended five times in 32 months, Ramirez never elevated to household name status and was on the outside looking in when it came to landing big fights while consistently struggling to make weight.
He abandoned his title to move to 175 for a four-round blowout of three-time title challenger Tommy Karpency in April 2019 but found himself in a personal/promotional/pandemic quagmire soon after.
It was a long 20 months.
But fast-forward to October 2022 and the landscape has changed for the better.
Four KOs and a multi-fight deal with Golden Boy Promotions followed the prolonged hiatus, moving Ramirez up the ladder to No. 1 among WBA-ranked light heavyweights and into position for a mandatory match with incumbent champion Dmitry Bivol.
It’ll take place on November 5 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
Bivol, in case you’d missed it, defeated Canelo Alvarez in May and has reached every respected top-10 pound-for-pound list -- including a No. 7 position with Ring Magazine.
“I’m on the right path to reach my goals and what I want,” Ramirez said.
"My goal was to just be a champion. Eventually I put up more goals. I tried to reach more goals. (After fighting Abraham) I felt like I was so happy, so grateful. I became a champion.
“I’m still at the top level. I’m the best. I have to do everything that’s in my hands to prove to myself and prove to everyone that I’m the best.”
To do so, he’ll simply adhere to a familiar lifestyle.
Ramirez bills himself an old-school gym rat and spends time there whether or not he’s got a fight lined up, though he veers toward new-age activities like yoga and swimming to keep the body limber.
And now that he’s a full-timer at 175, the lunch menu is a little more comprehensive, too.
“I didn’t feel strong enough," he said. “Now at 175 I feel great. I can eat meat. I can eat tacos.
“I feel like I have power and that’s good for me. It was tough to not eat tacos. Now I can eat whatever I want, and I feel comfortable at 175.”
Though Bivol will face a deficit in both height (6-foot-2½ to 6-feet) and reach (75 inches to 72) against his unbeaten challenger, his boxing chops became public knowledge with a tactical schooling of Alvarez that yielded 7-5 margins on all three scorecards but seemed much more like 9-3.
Alvarez hadn’t lost in nearly nine years. Ramirez has never lost.
But he isn’t intimidated.
In fact, he’ll leave the game-planning to his training team instead of obsessing over videos.
"I know what I’m doing in the ring," he said. “He has to be prepared for me. I don’t have to be all the time watching tapes. I watch a tape a couple times, and that’s it. Most important is training, doing sparring and being prepared for whatever he brings to the table. The coach has to do the plan.”
And speaking of plans, a win over Bivol makes Canelo the No. 1 priority.
Alvarez got back to business with a unanimous defeat of Gennady Golovkin to end their trilogy in mid-September and will be on the shelf until next spring to rehab an injury to his left hand.
What a coincidence.
Cinco de Mayo commemorates the anniversary of Mexico's victory over the second French empire in 1862. It falls on a Friday in 2023. And Alvarez has fought on that weekend in six of the last eight years, including main events at the T-Mobile Arena, AT&T Stadium and Minute Maid Park.
All Ramirez needs now is a win in November and a phone call answered by a high-profile countryman.
"I want to get all the belts and I want to be a pound-for-pound champion," he said.
“The people will ask more for that fight and eventually that fight will happen. Of course. Our paths are going to cross, and it has to happen. Two Mexican fighters in the ring, it’s a war guaranteed.
"It’s up to them. We don’t know. But that’s the one we want.”
Lyle Fitzsimmons has covered professional boxing since 1995 and written a weekly column for Boxing Scene since 2008. He is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter – @fitzbitz.
