Arum: Golovkin vs. Ramirez, We Have Deal in Principle For 2017
By Ryan Burton, Steve Kim
Two days ago, BoxingScene.com’s Steve Kim broke the news that a potential Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin mega-fight will not take place until September 2017. A lot can obviously happen in that amount of time so a date that far out is far from set in stone.
The hard hitting Triple G (35-0, 32KOs) has long clamored for big fights but has had difficulty securing a top level opponent.
One such fighter who has expressed interest in facing Golovkin is newly crowned WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (34-0, 24KOs).
The 24-year-old fighter from Mazatlán, Sinaloa made history by becoming the first Mexican to win a title in the 168 pound division in April when he routed former two-division champion Arthur Abraham on the Manny Pacquiao-Tim Bradley 3 undercard.
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum revealed that he has had discussions with Golovkin’s promoter, Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions, and they have a tentative agreement in place to fight in the fall if both fighters keep winning and GGG fails to secure a fight against Canelo.
“Well the plan with Ramirez is he defends his title against the German (Dominik Birsch) on July 23rd on the Crawford-Postol card and then we will have him fight in the fall in another title defense and if all goes well – I’ve been talking to Tom Loeffler about Golovkin challenging Ramirez for the super middleweight title – and we have a deal in principle,” Arum told BoxingScene.com.
“Obviously Golovkin would rather fight Canelo but he’s coming to the realization that Canelo, despite the act that he put on after his last fight inviting Golovkin into the ring, has absolutely no intention to fight Golovkin and the true Mexican warrior – the guy who would not hesitate to go in the ring with Golovkin – with a good chance to beat Golovkin, is Zurdo Ramirez.”
And says the agreement is no joke.
“I’m not like these other guys, I don’t mess around. I’m too old, I don’t have enough time left,” said the 84-year old promoter, who recently celebrated his 50th year in the business.
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