Gilberto Ramirez became Mexico’s first cruiserweight world champion, taking the WBA (Super) title from previously undefeated Arsene Goulamirian with a confident win at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California.
He rebounded last October, moving up to cruiserweight to score against Joe Smith Jr. Goulamirian (27-1, 19 KO) originally became the WBA “regular” champion in 2018 and was promoted a year later, recording a total of four defenses, most recently a points victory over Alexei Egorov in France in November 2022.
Ramirez got a taste of the champion’s power early on and was solid with his shots, and in the third minute the Mexican was confident enough to trade and work Goulamirian’s body.
The uppercut was hitting Ramirez almost at will, and in round six the challenger’s right hand seemed to throw Goulamirian off balance, meaning power was starting to play a key role.
Goulamirian was hitting pristine shots, but not often enough to win rounds, and Ramirez was willing to trade places where necessary, but also step on the gas to assert his authority. In the final round, pairs were exchanged until the last bell, and the result was beyond any doubt, which was confirmed by the reading of the results.
A successful night for Golden Boy’s players – summary
Kareem Hackett (12-1, 6 KO) was upset as Rowdy Legend Montgomery (11-5-1, 8 KO) won by third-round knockout to capture the vacant WBA Intercontinental lithe heavyweight title.
Ricardo Rafael Sandoval (24-2, 17 KO) forced Carlos Buitrago (38-13-1, 22 KO) to withdraw after the eighth round of the flyweight competition, when he had a enormous advantage in the cards, and in the welterweight division Alexis Rocha (24- 2, 16 KO) also won by retirement, and Fredrick Lawson (30-5, 22 KO) could not advance to the eighth round of the fight.
Santiago Dominguez (27-0, 20 KO) remained undefeated, but he had to make every effort to win the welterweight fight by split decision after ten rounds against Jose Luis Sanchez (14-4-1, 4 KO). Dominguez had scores of 97-93 and 96-94 in his favor, with Sanchez scoring third with a score of 97-93.
Jose Mancilla (1-0, 1 KO) started his pro career with a first-round victory over lithe heavyweight Reuben Johnson (0-6), and Joel Iriarte (2-0, 2 KO) also won his opening round early to win his four-rounder welterweight fight with Kevin Beltran Aguirre (5-3, 2 KO).
