‘Zurdo’ Ramirez TKOs Sullivan Barrera (and more) on a Sweltering Night in L.A.

LOS ANGELES-Mexico’s Gilberto Ramirez belted his way into the light heavyweight division with body shots in shoving gatekeeper Sullivan Barrera aside on a sweltering warm Friday night.

Zurdo is a true light heavyweight.

In front of more than 8,000 fans outdoors at Banc of California Stadium, the Mexican southpaw Ramirez (42-0, 28 KOs) continued his undefeated streak with a bludgeoning of Barrera (22-4) on a very lengthy Golden Boy Promotions card.

Ramirez ended the warm evening activities with wicked body blows that took the will of the Cuban standout, who on many occasions had blocked many earlier young upstarts with dreams of light heavyweight championships.

On this night it was Ramirez who sent Barrera packing.

It didn’t take long for Ramirez to figure out Barrera’s rhythm and once that happened left hand body shots found the mark. Barrera tried to remain competitive but those belts to the abdomen sapped his will and he was sent to the floor three times total by the fourth round. The end came at 1:38 of the fourth with referee Tom Taylor ending the beating.

“I think my performance was great,” said Zurdo Ramirez. “I was training for the body shot. And I think it was beautiful. At 175 pounds, everyone saw a better Zurdo Ramirez. This is my division. I’m going to take the souls of all the champions in the 175-pound division.”

Jojo

Despite a point deduction and bloodied eye former super featherweight titlist Jojo Diaz outhustled the Dominican Republic’s Javier Fortuna to win by unanimous decision in his first venture into the lightweight division.

Diaz is now a real lightweight.

Both fighters rarely took time to enjoy the scenery and spent all of the 12 rounds bludgeoning each other for the WBC interim title at stake. No knockdowns were scored but each had their moments. Diaz had more of them and was given the decision by scores 116-111, 117-110, 115-112.

“Javier Fortuna was a warrior,” said Joseph Diaz Jr. “I thought I would easily land body shots, but he’s a slick defensive fighter. He’s very talented. I wish him the best, and I hope he continues. When I saw the cut, I had hoped that it wasn’t as bad as the Tevin Farmer fight. It wasn’t, so I just dictated the pace from then on. I can fight all the big names, Ryan Garcia or Tevin Farmer.”

Undefeated

A battle between undefeated lightweights saw Mexico’s William Zepeda (23-0, 21 KOs) overwhelm Hector Tanajara (19-1) with a nonstop buzzsaw attack resulting in a win by stoppage at the end of the sixth round.

Though Tanajara was never floored nor seemingly injured, his corner led by Robert Garcia stopped the nonstop assault. He’ll fight another day.

Zepeda continued to impress fans with his high-intensity attack. Last November he had delivered a similar performance in Hollywood at the Wild Card.

Japan vs USA

Seniesa “Super Bad” Estrada (21-0, 8 KOs) defeated Japan’s Tsunami Tenkai (28-13-1) by unanimous decision after 10 savage rounds to pick up her second division world title.

Tenkai held the WBO light flyweight title and Estrada wanted it. Both belted each other for all 10 rounds with judges giving the win to the East L.A. fighter by scores of 98-92 twice and 99-91.

No knockdowns were scored by either fighter.

“I had to really dig deep and show that I can fight on the inside, exchange punches and work the body. I showed a different side to me,” said Estrada who also has the WBA minimum weight title. “Tsunami is really tough, and I was surprised at her ability to take a lot of punches.”

In another Japan versus US battle, Naoko Fujioka (19-2-1) started slowly against Sulem Urbina (12-2) who jumped ahead in the first two rounds with lightning combinations and great defensive work. But after two rounds the WBA flyweight world titlist began to attack the body and slowed down Urbina’s work rate to a more manageable tempo.

Fujioka was relentless in her body assault and though Urbina countered with wicked rights, the Japanese fighter continued her concentration to the abdomen. After 10 furious rounds the judges scored it by majority decision for Fujioka 95-95, 99-91, 96-94.

Fujioka retains the title and could be matched against Golden Boy’s Marlen Esparza who holds the WBC flyweight title.

“Sulem is a very tough fighter,” said Fujioka. “I started slowly because I had not fought in two years. Body shots helped slow her down.”

Photo credit: Sye Williams / Golden Boy Promotions

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