An array of talent will be on show at the AT&T Centre in San Antonio, Texas this Saturday night, and the enigma that is Gilberto Ramirez headlines in a twelve round light heavyweight attraction against Miami based Cuban, Yunieski Gonzalez.
Ramirez vs Gonzalez will be broadcast worldwide on DAZN.
Mexico’s ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez (42-0, 28 KOs) holds one of the longest unbeaten records in the sport, but his career has stagnated somewhat since moving up from super middleweight.
The 30-year-old won the WBO belt at 168 pounds in 2016 with a dominant points win against Arthur Abraham, and defended five times before moving up.
He has had three fights at the new weight, all against gatekeeper-type opposition.
First he retired Tommy Karpency after four rounds, and then stopped Alfonso Lopez in ten in December 2020. He was last out in July, knocking out Sullivan Barrera with body shots in four rounds.
Ramirez is highly ranked with three of the four governing bodies, and has openly called out WBA champion, Dmitry Bivol.
His contest with Gonzalez (21-3, 17 KOs) serves as an eliminator with that organisation.
‘Monster’ Gonzalez pushed Jean Pascal close over ten in 2015, but was stopped in three by former WBC champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk in 2017.
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The 36-year-old has won three straight low key fights since, the last a second round knockout of common opponent Karpency in September.
Prediction: Ramirez will want to send a message to Bivol here, and will also want Gonzalez to feel his power early. He may very well score an early knockdown, on the way to a win in around five or six frames.
Estrada defends world title
Two world title fights come at low weights. Seneisa ’Super Bad’ Estrada (21-0, 8 KOs) claimed the WBO title at light flyweight in her last fight, but she drops down in weight to defend her WBA belt at minimum weight here against Guatemala’s Maria Micheo Santizo (9-0, 5 KOs).
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Prediction: Estrada won the strap in March with a points win over Anabel Ortiz, and she should be able to comfortably outscore Santizo here, who fights at world level for the first time.
Esparza makes world title defence
The other title bout comes at flyweight, where Marlen Esparza (10-1, KO1) defends her WBC flyweight title for the first time against Anabel Ortiz (31-4, KO4).
Esparza’s only defeat was a technical decision to Estrada, and she won her title in June, getting off the floor in the opener before outpointing Ibeth Zamora Silva.
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Prediction: Ortiz is jumping up two weights, and that’s why I lean towards Esparza retaining on points.
Roach faces Alvarado
At super featherweight, Lamont Roach (21-1-1, 9 KOs) defends his NABF belt in a decent looking clash with former WBA champion, Rene Alvarado (32-10, 21 KOs).
Prediction: Roach can retain on the cards.
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Remaining Undercard
There are three remaining ten rounders. At super lightweight, Luis Alberto Hernandez Ramos (21-1, 19 KOs) should bounce back after his first professional defeat with a stoppage win against Kazakhstan’s Ruslen Madiyev (13-2, 5 KOs), while at welterweight, Raul Curiel (10-0, 8 KOs) will likely need the distance against tough Texan Kendo Castaneda (17-4, 8 KOs).
The vacant WBC International featherweight title is at stake, and Victor Morales (15-0, 8 KOs) should come through on the cards against Rudy Garcia (12-0, 2 KOs).
A lightweight four rounder should see Nicholas Sullivan (4-0, 1 KO) take a points win against Erick Garcia Benitez (2-1, 1 KO).
