In boxing, a fighter’s stock can rise with a big win. It can also fall sharply with an untimely loss. Last night Gilberto ́Zurdo ́ (Lefty) Ramirez (43-0) had to pour everything he had within him to hammer out a big win and earn the shot at the WBA Light Heavy title and keep his perfect record alive.
This was his forty third outing and faced a game and resilient Yunieski Gonzalez (21-4) of Pinar del Rio, Cuba. This eliminator match was set to finally determine the next challenger for Dimitry Bivol ́s WBA Light Heavy title. Now, this fight with Bivol could have and should have taken place this year but, as boxing goes, the fight was never signed. Instead, Ramirez met Sullivan Barrera in July of this year who he dismantled in four rounds.
Last night ́s action saw Zurdo on point with a dangerous opponent in Yunieski Gonzalez. The cuban orthodox fighter came in chisled, just eight ounces under the light heavy limit of one hundred seventy five pounds.
From the opening bell, the two fighters went toe to toe with Gonzalez surprising the pro Zurdo crowd. He landed several punches to the head sending his opponent back, but Zurdo was able to counter by scoring his own to the head and body. The early rounds were super exciting as both landed solid shots, Zurdo slightly outpacing Gonzalez. All hell had broke loose in the fourth round! Zurdo was ahead and scoring solid shots with Yunieski answering just enough to keep up.
It appeared the referee was looking closely at the Cuban who was clearly staggered and showed some swelling around the eyes. The attack from Ramirez was consistent with an occasional solid counter from his opponent. After a back and forth in the tenth round with Gonzalez against the ropes, taking on more punishment, referee Rafael Ramos stepped in to stop the fight. Zurdo had sealed the deal!
The gracious Yunieski hugged the ref in relief at stoppage and lifted the man off his feet. A great TKO for Zurdo Ramirez, who was elated to know he had finally earned the championship bout with Russian champ Dimitry Bivol.
Post fight, with little need for an interpreter, Zurdo stated that Bivol could finally quit running. He thanked his crowd and dedicated the victory to recently deceased Mexican icon vocalist Vicente Fernandez. The humble and soft spoken Ramirez also thanked his opponent for what was surely one of the great light heavy battles of the year.
As a Zurdo fan, the hope is to have this fight land on Cinco de Mayo of 2022….if not sooner. Muchisimo Gilberto ́Zurdo ́ Ramirez.
