Gilberto Ramirez is a two-division champion. And he accomplished the feat fairly easily.
The former 168-pound titleholder defeated Arsen Goulamirian by a one-sided decision to take the Frenchman’s WBA belt Saturday night at YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California.
All three judges had the same score, 118-110, 10 rounds to two.
Ramirez (46-1, 30 KOs) is only two fights removed from his lopsided loss to pound-for-pounder Dmitry Bivol in a 175-pound title-unification bout in 2022.
Goulamirian is no Bivol. On top of that, the now-former beltholder had fought only once in four-plus years, which didn’t help his cause.
Indeed, Ramirez had his way with his naturally bigger opponent, outboxing him throughout but also getting the better of him when they exchanged punches inside. The winner was never hurt.
Thus, the scoring was not surprising.
With the victory, Ramirez, a 32-year-old from Mazatlan, became the first Mexican to win a major 200-pound title. And he said he’s not finished writing his unusual story. He intends to move up to heavyweight at some point.
No Mexican national has ever won a major heavyweight title.
Goulamirian (27-1, 19 KOs) was upgraded to full WBA champion in September 2019. He had three successful defenses spread over two years before losing his belt.