Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez has begun the apology tour.
There was a major shakeup in the lineup for Saturday’s DAZN show after the Mexican southpaw badly missed weight for his previously scheduled 12-round light heavyweight fight versus Gabriel Rosado. Ramirez initially arrived at 187 pounds ahead of Friday’s weigh-in, later getting down to 182.6 pounds at which point their planned main event was officially canceled.
“No excuses. I had never missed weight in my 45 pro fights,” Ramirez said in a statement released through his official Instagram account after Friday’s scale fail. “This is the first and last time. I have always prided myself on being a professional, but today was not my finest moment.
“On that note, I’d like to apologize to all my fans and supporters, Golden Boy Promotions, and DAZN for this unfortunate event. I never gave up trying to make weight, cutting until the final moment, but just couldn’t lose enough to make the contracted weight.”
Rosado was unofficially 173 pounds, well under the limit as expected since he was moving up in weight.
With their fallout, the previously scheduled Joseph ‘JoJo’ Diaz-Mercito Gesta bout was elevated to the main event.
However, their 12-round bout also required a weight limit modification to accommodate Diaz, who for the second straight fight showed up well above the lightweight limit. Diaz weighed a career-heaviest 139.4 pounds for Saturday’s makeshift headliner. Gesta was 137.2 pounds and reportedly on board with whatever terms were altered to proceed with their fight.
Diaz recently changed camps for this fight, having set up shop at Brickhouse Boxing Club where Ramirez also trains,
Ramirez (44-1, 30KOs) was due to fight for the first time since a lopsided loss to WBA light heavyweight titlist Dmitry Bivol (21-0, 11KOs) last November 5 in Abu Dhabi.
He has previously discussed plans to eventually become a five-division champion. Ramirez previously held the WBO super middleweight title and has aspirations of winning belts at light heavyweight, cruiserweight, the WBC-exclusive bridgerweight division and eventually at heavyweight.
This week’s follies should motivate a move up the scale. Ramirez has made weight for every fight, but has also gained as much as 25 pounds after a weigh-in for recent light heavyweight contests.
For now, the plan is to remain at light heavyweight although Ramirez will have to get back in line for an available fight date. He has nobody to blame but himself—and is well aware of his sins.
“I am embarrassed and upset by my actions and promise that this will never happen again,” vowed Ramirez. “I will make the right adjustments and will be back soon.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox