Jose “Zurdo” Ramirez can’t seem to stand still for too long. After grabbing a world title at 168 pounds, the Mexican native had a transient run at 175 pounds. Although a near-shutout loss at the hands of Dmitry Bivol wasn’t his best performance, his handlers over at Golden Boy Promotions believed that he had all of the tools necessary to compete with the best of the best at 175 pounds.
For his next appearance, Ramirez was given a relatively soft touch in Gabe Rosado. But while Rosado was expected to give the former champion well-needed rounds and maybe an ego boost, his body wouldn’t allow him to go through with it.
The night before they shared the ring, Ramirez jumped onto the scales at 187 pounds, 12 pounds over the light heavyweight limit. In the blink of an eye, his 175 pound was over with. Now, moving forward, he’ll face the big boys in the cruiserweight division.
Although he hasn’t even competed at the 200-pound limit just yet, Ramirez is somewhat thinking ahead. If he can safely put on the weight, Ramirez would love to add even more muscle to his frame and compete in the heavyweight division.
That dream of Ramirez might be years from now. But just because he doesn’t intend on moving up now, it doesn’t mean he isn’t eyeing someone already. So who exactly has caught his attention? Anthony Joshua.
“I want to challenge myself,” said Ramirez to Little Giant Boxing when asked if he sees himself fighting Joshua in the future. “Why not move to heavyweight one day? I sparred before with heavyweights, I feel great.”
At the moment, fighting the former unified champ is a pipe dream. With Joshua focusing on regaining another world title, Ramirez will have to head to the back of the line and play the waiting game.
Facing someone as big, skilled, and notable as Joshua has to be pushed aside. Joe Smith Jr., a former light heavyweight champion who’s also moving up, has other plans. To avoid any hiccups in his long-term goals, Ramirez is putting a hold on his Joshua hopes and focusing on the task at hand.
“I’m focusing on this fight with Joe Smith Jr.”