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Arsen Goulamirian vs Gilberto Ramirez was ordered to fight for the WBA cruiserweight championship belt. BoxingScene.com confirms that a deal has been reached for French boxer Arsen Goulamirian to defend his WBA belt against Mexican boxer Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez.
News of the fight was verified by Goulamirian via social media and later by the WBA, which granted an exception to the mandatory title defense order for the long-reigning but largely inactive title holder. Goulamirian was previously ordered to face former two-time title holder Yuniel Dorticos.
The match for the WBA championship belt was postponed for several months, with this decision now explaining this development. This fight is targeted for March. A date has not been confirmed by Golden Boy Promotions or Goulamirian’s team, and neither responded to Boxing Scene’s inquiries for further clarification.
However, Golden Boy currently still has the rights to The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas for the March 16 date, which will likely be approved at the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s monthly docket hearing on January 23. Ramirez (45-1, 30KOs) appeared at the same venue in his last outing, a ten-round decision victory over former WBO light heavyweight champion Joe Smith Jr.
Their match was on October 7, where Ramirez – who is a former WBO super middleweight title holder – made his cruiserweight debut, although he had to fight at the specified weight, namely 87.5 kg.
This marks the 32-year-old boxer from Mazatlan, Mexico’s first appearance in the ring since his November 2022 decision loss to WBA light heavyweight world champion Dmitry Bivol in Abu Dhabi. Ramirez was scheduled to face Gabriel Rosado back in March, but he was pulled from the DAZN event when he entered fight week over the light heavyweight limit.
The win over Smith moved Ramirez into title contention at his new weight. However, he was previously ordered to face former three-time champion Mairis Briedis (28-2, 20KOs) for the vacant IBF cruiserweight title. The two failed to reach an agreement and the fight was scheduled for a prize bid hearing on January 16.
Representatives for Golden Boy (Ramirez) and Wasserman (Briedis) did not respond to messages sent for comment on this matter. Goulamirian (27-0, 18KOs) has held the WBA cruiserweight title since 2019, following the departure of former undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14KOs), who went on to capture the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles.
However, the Armenian-born boxer – who now lives in France and trains in Big Bear, California – has only fought once in the last four years. That came in November 2022, over twelve rounds, with a unanimous decision over Aleksei Egorov in Le Cannet, France.
(aww)