Gilberto Ramirez of Mexico steps back into the ring this Saturday, March 18th when he fights long-time veteran Gabriel Rosado in a 12-round light heavyweight bout The fight will be broadcasted on DAZN and will take place in Long Beach, California. Ramirez last fought in November when he dropped a decision to Dmitry Bivol.  Rosado lost in September by decision when he took on Ali Akhmedov.

The 37-year-old Rosado comes in as a veteran who has fought his heart out against the best of them but has come up short in a lot of his biggest moments. Rosado has taken on the likes of Peter Quillin and Gennady Golovkin in the past with Quillin stopping him in the 10th round on cuts and Golovkin halting him in seven. Rosado comes in with a record of 26-16-1 with 15 Ko’s and has boxed 340 rounds. Rosada has also been defeated by Alfredo Angulo, Jermell Charlo, and David Lemiuex as well.  Rosado’s not really a powerful puncher despite his spectacular one-punch KO over Bektemir Melikuziev in June, 2021 but even through all his loses, Rosado is one to go out on his shield.

The 31-year-old Ramirez is a southpaw who became the first Mexican to capture a world super middleweight title when he beat Arthur Abraham via unanimous decision in 2016 for the WBO Belt. He enters the ring this Saturday with s record of 44-1 with 30 Ko’s with his lone loss coming to Bivol the last time out. Ramirez stands close to 6-feet-3-inches tall and has a reach of 75 inches which gives him a three-inch height advantage over Rosado as well as 3.5-inches in reach.

Ramirez often prefers to work his way inside to engage instead of fighting at a safer distance. After beating Abraham, Ramirez defended his title against Max Bursak and Jesse Hart by unanimous decisions and stopped Habib Ahmed in six rounds. Overall, Ramirez has stopped six of his last nine opponents. He has taken on the likes of Sullivan Barrera, Derek Edwards, Fulgencio Zuniga, Junior Talipeau, and Derrick Findley.

This is a huge mismatch at this moment. Rosado is undersized in his division and has been beaten by fighters in smaller weight classes. Ramirez is a -4000 favorite while Rosado is a +1100. Fans were disappointed in Ramirez’s performance against Bivol; he looked quite timid and lethargic as he didn’t let his hands go nearly enough. He was too cautious and was easily outboxed. Bivol showed why he may be the best light heavyweight in the world whil Ramirez has shown why fans have not liked his style for most of his career.

This should be easy work for Ramirez. It should be a knockout for Ramirez. It should be early for Ramirez. I like him early. Ramirez’s power and natural aggression should be the difference. No books have any other lines beside the straight pick. So, there is no value in this fight

Pick: Ramirez to Win (-4000 DraftKings) no real value.

The undercard does have a fight that should steal the show between Joseph “JoJo” Diaz and Mercito Gesta. Currently Diaz is heavily favored at -700 with Gesta coming in at +450.’ Diaz steps into the ring with a record of 32 wins, 3 loses and 1 draw, 15 of those wins coming by the way of knockout. Gesta will make his way to the ring with a record of 33 wins, 3 loses and 3 draws, with 17 of those wins by knock out. Gesta has a slight advantage in power over Diaz, with a 52% knock out percentage over Diaz’s 47%.

Gesta has a one-inch height advantage and a four-inch reach advantage. This fight is closer than the odds suggest. Sure, Gesta is 5 years older but he has only been stopped once. Diaz isn’t exactly a knockout puncher. This fight to me isn’t 50-50 but it’s more like 55-45 in favor of Diaz but at +450, I will take a flier on Gesta in what should be the best fight of the night.