Gilberto Ramirez vs Joe Smith Jr – Results & Post-Fight Report

Gilberto Ramirez returned to winning ways, and moved closer to a cruiserweight world title shot, as he got the better of Joe Smith Jr on the cards in a ten round war at Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas.

Both were coming off losses, with Ramirez clearly outscored by Dimitry Bivol last November for the WBA light heavyweight title, and Smith halted in two rounds by Artur Beterbiev in an unsuccessful unification bid that cost him his WBO 175 pound belt. This contest was changed to a ten rounder, and upgraded to cruiserweight during fight week, with the WBA sanctioning an eliminator for Arsen Goulamirian’s world title.

The two unloaded several power punches in the first frame, and Ramirez (45-1, KO30) was putting plenty of pressure on Smith (28-5, KO22) with spiteful combinations. Smith went on the attack in the third, but Ramirez was accurate to the body, and his variety of punches were troubling the New Yorker, who clubbed away in the fourth and remained dangerous. Ramirez was confusing Smith with his movement, and he continued to unload power punches as the contest went past halfway, and although Smith tried to pin the Mexican down, he couldn’t for a sustained enough period. The two did go toe to toe to end the seventh, where Smith got the better of the argument, and he was growing in confidence as he also had a solid eighth. Ramirez was definitely slowing down, and that allowed Smith to connect with his punches more, and as the fight went to the last round, it seemed as though the cards had tightened. Ramirez hurt Smith with a body shot in the final round, but he responded with a massive right hand as the slugfest reached its conclusion.

The scorecards read identically at 99-91 in Ramirez’s favour, which was unfair on Smith

On the undercard, Bektemir Melikuziev (13-1, KO10) retained his WBA Intercontinental super middleweight title, as he stopped Alantez Fox (28-5-1, KO13) in the fourth round of a scheduled ten. Melikuziev dropped Fox prior to the finish, and an accumulation of punches badly buzzed the American on the resumption, and the referee intervened.

At super welterweight, Victor Toney (8-2-1, KO6) scored an upset, taking an eight round majority decision win against Jahyae Brown (13-2, KO9). Toney took two 77-75 verdicts against a third tally of 75-75. Also at super welterweight, Eric Tudor (9-1, KO6) was also upset, outscored by Jose Luis Sanchez (14-3-1, KO4). Scores of 77-75 (twice) and 78-74 sealed victory for Sanchez.

Cruiserweight prospect Tristan Kalkreuth (12-1, KO9) forced Aaron Casper (7-5-2, KO5) to retire after five rounds, and Darius Fulghum (8-0, KO8) flattened Alan Campa (18-9, KO12) in the first round of their super middleweight meeting. Erick Garcia Benitez (5-5, KO1) took the unbeaten record of Daniel Luna (3-1, KO3), winning all four rounds on two cards in their lightweight meeting.