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Gilberto Ramirez Improves To 41-0
The Champ is back!
Former world super middleweight champion Gilberto "Zurdo"
Ramirez (41-0, 27 KOs), fighting for the first time since
April 4, 2019, returned to the ring last night with a
vengeance, stopping tough defending North American Boxing
Federation (NABF) light heavyweight champion Alfonso "El
Tigre" Lopez (32-4, 25 KOs) in the 10th round of the "Battle
of Rio Grande" main event.
"Battle of Rio Grande," presented by the two main event
fighter's promotional companies, Zurdo Promotions and El
Tigre Promotions, aired live on pay per view from the
Galveston Island Convention Center in Galveston, Texas.
The 29-year-old Ramirez displayed his world-class boxing
skills and tremendous athleticism from the start, dropping
Lopez in the fourth, but the defending champion was
resilient right up until the very end. The ringside
physician examined Lopez' swollen right eye after the ninth
round and when Ramirez floored Lopez with a right hook in
the 10th, the referee waved off the fight. Lopez had his
10-right win streak snapped and Ramirez put reigning world
light heavyweight champions Artur Beterviev (WBC & IBF) and
Dmitry Bivol (WBA) on notice. Ramirez is ranked No. 1 by the
WBO, as well as being WBA #45, WBO and IBF #7.
"I'm glad I was able to get a fight in this year." Martinez
said. "Alfonso was tough as a bull and kept coming like the
true warrior he is but overall, I'm happy with my
performance. I felt some ring rust in the beginning, but I'm
glad I was able to get back to my old form quickly. This was
challenge as a fighter and a promoter, but I plan on doing
more shows in the future and appreciate all my partners that
helped out in the process (ie fite tv, el tigre promotions,
and be def sports). Glad I have this one out the way and on
to next one."
World-rated heavyweight and 2012 U.S. Olympian, Michael "The
Bounty" Hunter (19-1-1, 13 KOs), continued his mission to be
world heavyweight champion, outclassing West Virginia's
Shawn Laughery (10-4, 6 KOs) in the 10-round co-featured
event, closing the show in the fourth round with his second
knockdown. Hunter is rated among the top 10 heavyweights in
the world by the four major sanctioning bodies: IBF #4, WBO
#8, WBC #9 and WBA #10.
California featherweight Jose Maria "Chema" Delgado (6-0-4,
2 KOs) can't catch a break, at least not in the United
States, where he fought to a draw for the fourth time last
night against Armando Frausto (8-2, 5 KOs). Delgado's six
pro wins have all come in fights held in Mexico. Delgado and
Frausto were fighting for the vacant American Boxing
Organization (ABO) featherweight title that remains open.
Undefeated lightweight Juan Velazquez (6-0, 4 KOs)
overwhelmed fellow Houstonian, Alexis Chavarria (4-3-3, 1
KO), putting him away in round two after pummeling him from
the opening bell.
The first fighter signed by Ramirez' Zurdo Promotions, Los
Angeles bantamweight John "Scrappy" Ramirez (no relations),
turned in an auspicious pro debut, stopping his Puerto Rican
opponent, Jose "El Chavito" Solis (0-3) midway through the
opening round.
Texas middleweight Charles "Pretty Bad Boy" Baylor (1-0, 1
KO) dominated fellow Texan Joel "The Assassin" Munoz (0-2)
up until the latter's corner ended the fight, Houston junior
middleweight Raynard "Alief Ali" Talib, Jr. (3-0, 1 KO)
overcame a first-round knockdown and a cut over his right
eye to edge Adam "AD" Ealoms (4-19-3, 2 KOs) by way of a
four-round unanimous decision (38-37 X 3), and the junior
middleweight fight between pro-debuting Apostle Arias
(0-0-1) and Lucas "God First" McDonald (0-5-1) ended in a
technical draw, because McDonald was unable to continue
fighting in the fourth round due to a serious cut resulting
from an accidental headbutt.
Also fighting on the undercard, Houston's Breyon Gorham
improved to 7-0 (6 KOs) with a third-round technical
knockout of Anthony Curtiss (2-7, 2 KOs), who managed to
beat the count but was deemed to unsteady by the referee to
continue fighting, and Delmonte "Sugar Bear" Randle (1-0, 1
KOs) won his pro debut when Jarvis Lee (0-3) retired after
round one.
The middleweight fight between Ivan Vazquez (5-0, 4 KOs) and
Charon Spain (2-14-2, 1 KO) was canceled after Vazquez
tested positive for COVID-19.
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