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World boxing result Gilberto Ramirez overcame Joe Smith’s resistance in the final minutes to win on points in the cruiserweight fight in Las Vegas, Sunday (8/10/2023) afternoon WIB. Gilberto Ramirez boxed better and moved more than usual on Saturday night local time, and that worked in the Mexican challenger’s favor.
This strong left-handed boxer was also able to withstand the power of Joe Smith Jr. when Smith ambushed him in a 10-round cruiserweight bout at The Chelsea, inside The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas, United States. Ramirez’s performance in his cruiserweight debut was more than enough to impress judges Tim Cheatham, David Sutherland and Steve Weisfeld – each scoring the former WBO super middleweight champion’s nine rounds 99-91.
Gilberto Ramirez successfully staged a comeback from his failure to make weight for his light heavyweight fight against Gabe Rosado which was canceled on March 17 due to Ramirez being unable to fulfill his contractual obligations. He is also closer to a title shot at cruiserweight after defeating Smith in a WBA eliminator match.
“I guess I feel like I’m always ahead on paper,” Gilberto Ramirez told DAZN’s Chris Mannix in the ring. “But I never take risks, because he has strong hands and brings a lot of (strength) to the ring,” he continued.
A grateful Ramirez credited Malik Scott, Deontay Wilder’s trainer, for helping him stick to his game plan on Saturday night. Scott worked in Ramirez’s corner because his longtime trainer, Julian Chua, was unable to attend his fight against Smith.
Gilberto Ramirez (45-1, 30 KOs) won his first fight since he lost a 12-round unanimous decision to WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) on November 5 at the Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi. Joe Smith (28-5, 22 KOs), the former WBO light heavyweight champion from Mastic, New York, has lost back-to-back fights to Ramirez and a knockout to Artur Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KOs), who dropped Smith three times and stopped him in the second round in their 12-round, 79.3 kg title unification fight in June 2022 at the Hulu Theater, Madison Square Garden, New York.
Joe Smith, 34 years old, and Ramirez, 32 years old, both made their debut as official cruiserweight boxers in this fight. They both weighed in on Friday, one pound less than their contracted weight of 87.5 kg, or seven kilograms below the maximum weight for cruiserweight. “It was a 20 pound difference and I felt great,” Ramirez said. “I feel great, I feel healthy, I feel blessed. … Zurdo Ramirez is back.”
Joe Smith peppered Ramirez with enough hard punches to worry Ramirez, but he couldn’t put him down. “You know, I gave it my best shot,” Smith said.
“He boxed really well tonight. I felt like I had a little trouble standing up today and not throwing my punches, like I usually do. But I’m happy with my performance. I wish I was a little busier, but I hurt him a few times . It would be better if I could knock him out, but I’m happy to be here, I’m fine and, you know, congratulations to him for boxing well.”