Gilberto Ramírez Sánchez (born 19 June 1991) is a Mexican professional boxer. He won titles in two weight class having previously held the held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) super middleweight title from 2016 to 2019 and the unified World Boxing Association (WBA) and the WBO cruiserweight titles from 2024 to 2026.
Professional career
Super middleweight
Early career In April 2010, Ramírez beat veteran Jesus Ayala by second-round knockout (KO) in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico.
On 17 December 2010, Ramírez knocked out the undefeated Rogelio Medina to win the vacant WBC Youth middleweight title. The bout was held at the Gimnasio German Evers in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico. Starting from 2011, Ramírez moved up to super-middleweight. In his first fight of the year, Ramírez fought 32 year old Antonio Arras and knocked him out via technical knockout (TKO) in round eight. Ramírez next stopped Francisco Villanueva in seven rounds. In July 2011, Ramírez moved back down middleweight to defend his WBC Youth title. He successfully defended the title beating Oney Valdez, Amilcar Edgardo Funes Melian and Samuel Miller all inside the distance. Ramírez went ten rounds with Jaime Barboza (17–6, 8 KOs). Ramírez won via unanimous decision (100–90, 100–91, 97–93). Ramírez next fought at super middleweight against Isaac Mendez, winning via TKO in round eight. Ramírez then went down to middleweight successfully defending the WBC Youth title a final two times against Richard Gutierrez, who Ramírez beat on all scorecards (100–90) and Marcus Upshaw, also winning via ten-round unanimous decision (98–92, 99–90 twice). According to sources in February 2013, Ramírez was on the verge of signing with promotional company Top Rank. This was later revealed to be true.
Fighting in the United States Ramírez fought in the United States for the first time in his career on 24 August 2013 at the Civic Auditorium, Glendale, California. His opponent was American Derrick Findley in a scheduled ten-round bout which went the distance. Ramírez won on all three scorecards (100–90 x3). In February 2014, Ramírez defeated Don Mouton at the Laredo Energy Arena, Laredo, Texas. 35 year old Mouton, who had not been stopped in 20 previous professional bouts, was knocked out in round one. Two months later, Ramírez fought at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino against his most credible opponent to date, 33 year old Giovanni Lorenzo (33–6, 25 KOs). Lorenzo was knocked down in round one, and twice in the fifth. Ramírez claiming the win via TKO and winning the vacant NABF super middleweight title and vacant WBO NABO super middleweight title. Ramírez averaged 30 landed punches per round.
Ramírez had a one off fight in Macau on the undercard of Rigondeaux-Kokietgym title fight. He defeated Junior Talipeau (20–2–1, 7 KOs) via first-round TKO, after knocking him down three times, in the process winning the vacant WBO Inter-Continental super middleweight title. Ramírez was back in US in November 2014 at the Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas, this time beating Fulgencio Zúñiga via eighth-round TKO to retain the titles. Zuniga's glove touched the canvas in round six, but the referee did not credit Ramírez with the knockdown. In round eight, Ramírez unleashed a barrage of punches which were unanswered, convincing the referee to stop the fight. Ramírez had an 80% knockout ratio after this fight, and it would be the last time he won inside the distance until seven fights later on 3 February 2017.
Rising up the ranks On 18 December 2014 Top Rank matchmaker Brad Goodman announced that Ramírez would take on his toughest challenge to date on the undercard of Alvarado-Rios at the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, Colorado, against Russian boxer Maxim Vlasov (30–1, 15 KOs) on 24 January 2015. The bout was set for a catchweight of 171 pounds and would mark the first time Ramírez fought on HBO. Ramírez defeated Vlasov in a closely contested ten round bout (96–94 & 97–93 twice). Ramírez landed 179 of 631 punches thrown (28%) and Vlasov landed 115 of his 411 thrown (28%).
On 18 April, it was announced that Ramírez would return to the ring on 12 June against 35 year old Derek Edwards (27–4–1, 14 KOs) on TruTV. It was pushed back two weeks to take place on 26 June instead. The fight took place at the State Farm Arena in Hidalgo, Texas, as Ramírez defeated Edwards via a ten-round decision. Ramírez won every round on all three judges' scorecards. Ramírez was the quicker boxer and used his reach advantage to box on the outside. Although there was exchanges throughout the fight, Ramírez was getting the better of them, landing the harder shots. Edwards' trainer Jeff Mayweather advised him to get closer and work on the inside, but he was unable to do so due to the reach and size advantage of Ramírez. The referee nearly stopped the fight before round eight ended when Edwards appeared hurt, but he managed to recover and make it to the end of the round. With the win, Ramírez moved closer to a potential world title fight after being ranked in the top 3 by the WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO.
On 12 September, another edition of Top Rank's Metro PCS Friday Night Knockout series on TruTV was announced with Ramírez appearing on the undercard on 20 November. His opponent was later announced as 27 year old Dutch boxer Gevorg Khatchikian (23–1, 11 KOs) for a scheduled ten round fight at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Chelsea Ballroom, Las Vegas. Ramírez won on all scorecards (99–91 & 100–90 twice). After the fight, he said, "We came to win and that's what we did. All of the hard work and preparation paid off." With the win, Ramírez became the first boxer to successfully defend the NABF super middleweight title four times.
Ramírez vs. Abraham It was announced on 18 January 2016 that #1 WBO Ramírez would be fighting WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (44–4, 29 KOs) in the co-feature bout on the 9 April undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley III card on HBO pay-per-view. Ramírez followed an intense training regimen in his hometown of Mazatlán before the fight. The fight card took at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ramírez put his name in Mexican boxing history, becoming the first fighter to win a super middleweight world title. All three judges scored the fight 120–108 for Ramírez, who also became only the second Mexican to win a world title in a division heavier than middleweight, the first one having been Julio César González as the WBO light heavyweight champion in 2003. Ramírez won on the punch count by outworking Abraham all night in almost very round. In the post fight interview, Ramírez said, "I took to him a Mexican boxing school. He was a very, very strong puncher, but he couldn't take any movement. I knew halfway through the fight I was going to win the fight. I came here to make history, and I did it." Ramírez improved his record to (34–0, 24 KOs).
On 31 May 2016, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum announced that Ramírez would fight on the undercard of the Terence Crawford-Viktor Postol unification fight on 23 July. Ramírez (34–0, 24 KOs), of Mexico, would have been making his first title defense against Germany's 28 year old Dominik Britsch (32–2–1, 11 KOs). Britsch had won four fights in a row since an eight-round decision loss in 2014, was about to take a big step up in competition. On 6 July, Ramírez suffered a hand injury while training, which ultimately called off the world title fight. Ramírez had a successful hand surgery and according to promoter Bob Arum, he should be able to make a ring return by the end of 2016.
Ramírez vs. Bursak In January 2017, negotiations were taking place for a fight between Ramírez and Matt Korobov (27–1, 14 KOs) possibly on the undercard of the potential Manny Pacquiao-Jeff Horn fight in April. Bob Arum announced on 13 February 2017 that Ramírez would be making his first defence in Los Angeles, California, on April 22. It was also announced that Max Bursak (33–4–1, 15 KOs) would be the challenger. Ramírez retained his WBO title in his first fight in over a year as he won every round on all three judges scorecards (120–106). Bursak tried to attack and managed to land some punches, but lacked the punching power to hurt Ramírez who used his footwork to evade any punishment. Bursak was deducted a point in round five and also in round eleven for excessive holding.
Ramírez vs. Hart On 19 June 2017, manager and trainer Hector Zápari announced a deal was in the works for Ramírez to defend his WBO title against mandatory challenger and WBO NABO titleholder Jesse "Hard Work" Hart (22–0, 18 KOs) with the fight possibly taking place in September 2017. It was revealed the fight would take place on 22 September 2017 in Tucson, Arizona. On 22 August the fight was made official and an announcement was made for the venue. The fight was to take place at the Convention Center. Hart stated that he wanted to win the WBO title for his father and trainer Eugene "Cyclone" Hart, a former professional boxer who fought in the Golden Ages of middleweights in the 1970s. His most famous opponent was Marvelous Marvin Hagler, which saw Hart lose via TKO. Hart never received a world title fight. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum credited Eugene Hart as being 'the hardest-punching middleweight of his time'.
In front of 4,103 fans, Ramírez retained his WBO super middleweight title in a hard-fought battle against a game Hart, which went the twelve round distance. The final judges scorecards were 115–112 twice, and 114–113 in favour of Ramírez. He started off strong, dropping Hart in round two following a left uppercut, which Hart did not see coming. Hart beat the count and survived the round. In round four, Hart took tremendous punishment, but managed to stay on his feet. The last six rounds saw the fight turnaround in favour of Hart. He landed many power shots to the head of Ramírez, who held his own. Ramírez seemed to have tired out during the closing rounds. Round eleven saw Hart rock Ramírez badly, but not realizing that his legs had given way, thus failing to go for the finish. Had Hart not been dropped in round two, the fight would have ended via majority decision. After the fight, Ramírez said, "This one was for all the Dreamers, all the people of Mexico and what they are going through with the earthquake. The plan was push, push, push and put a lot of pressure on him and keep him off balance. I wanted to put on a really big body attack every round. There was nothing easy in this fight." Hart was humble in defeat, "I take nothing away from him. He's a good champ. He has my respect. The knockdown was my fault. Zurdo's a really good fighter." Ramírez landed 220 punches from 690 thrown (32%), this included 40 of his 70 power shots thrown. Hart landed 132 of his 497 thrown (27%). The whole card averaged 706,000 viewers on ESPN.
Ramírez vs. Ahmed Top Rank's Bob Arum spoke to Boxing Scene on 24 October 2017 outlining the future for Ramírez. He stated that Ramírez would return on 3 February 2018 in the United States, then return to Mazatlán, Mexico, which would mark his first fight in his home country since April 2013 and then likely see a third fight in 2018 possibly in Australia. Arum mentioned Australia boxer Rohan Murdock (20–1, 15 KOs) as a potential opponent.