LOS ANGELES (November 6, 2024) –- One of the hottest young trainers in boxing is Julian Chua, even though he still hasn’t received the high-level respect he deserves from many boxing fans and promoters.
When Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (46-1, 30 KOs) dethroned previously undefeated World Boxing Association (WBA) Cruiserweight World Champion Arsen “Feroz” Goulamirian (27-0, 19 KOs) this past March, Chua’s stock took off because “Zurdo” is the first world champion the 33-year-old Chua developed into a world champion.
The journey Chua took to become the head trainer of “Zurdo,” who is only two months younger than Julian, was unusual, to say the least. At that time, Ramirez was 39-0 and the first of Mexican heritage to be world super middleweight champion, as well as a promotional free agent. “Zurdo” and his manager, David Suh (3 Point Management – 3PM), were conducting a search for a new head trainer and the list included some of the top coaches in the country. Chua was a relatively unknown commodity outside of southern California who at that time was training fighters at the famed Wildcard Gym in Hollywood (CA) under Hall of Fame Trainer Freddie Roach (he had also trained Chua when he was an amateur boxer from Indiana).
In 2018, Suh reached out to Chua to inquire if he’d be interested in training Ramirez, adding that he was also speaking with several other top names. At first, Ramirez really didn’t know who Chua was, at least, until they met at a coffee shop in Santa Monica to get to know each other. After that meeting, Ramirez gave Julian a chance to train him. The rest, of course, is part of modern-day boxing history.
“We clicked right away,” Chua added. “We learned things about each other and how we liked to train. I’ve always studied a lot and did some research about how he had been trained because I wanted to help him improve. I was getting four fighters ready in L.A. and ‘Zurdo’ couldn’t go there for sparring. I told him that I couldn’t leave these fighters to go and train him in Long Beach. We still wanted to work with each other and ‘Zurdo’ made it work. I went to Long Beach (where Ramirez trained at Hill Street Boxing & Fitness Gym) twice a week and he came to Wildcard three times.”
Chua made his debut at Ramirez’ new head trainer in 2019, when Ramirez moved up in weight to fight as a light heavyweight, stopping Tommy Karpency in four rounds. COVID-19 restrictions adversely affected Ramirez’ activity, but he learned and improved by continuing to work with Chua in the gym. “Zurdo” signed a promotional contract with Golden Boy Promotions, gaining added exposure fighting on the DAZN, and he reeled off four more consecutive victories through the middle of 2022, after which he lost for the first time in his pro career to WBA World Light Heavyweight Champion Dmitry Bivol (20-0), by way of a 12-round decision.
Ramirez decided that it was time to move up another division to cruiserweight because he was walking around at 200 pounds. Last October, Ramirez made his cruiserweight debut, albeit at a 193-pound catchweight, against former world light heavyweight champion and Bernard Hopkins conqueror Joe Smith, Jr. (28-4). “Zurdo” won a unanimous 10-round decision to become the mandatory challenger for Goulamirian.
“’Zurdo’ is the first world champion I’ve ‘built’ but I’ve been brought in to work with some world champions on their weaknesses – Regis Prograis, Steph Fulton and Alycia Baumgardner,” Chua commented. “It’s a lot more difficult that way because you can’t really have an impact in only two or three months. I’ve been working with ‘Zurdo’ for five years and I’ve had it good. He has a lot of natural talent and has always been a smart fighter, but he picked ‘nuts-and-guts’ too often in his decision making. He didn’t need to get hit so much even though he has a great chin. He has such a beautiful style and he’s so intelligent.
“He’s such a natural. Mexicans are uppercut kings. I noticed that, defensively, Arsen didn’t move his head or feet much. He was so wide that he was open up the middle for uppercuts, left or right, and that was our master plan. We worked on ‘Zurdo’ not throwing his uppercuts from too far away. He had been wide but, in this fight, he smothered his opponent inside. He did a lot of technical work and he’s always been a versatile fighter. I have him boxing more off his back foot. He could bully opponents with his size at 168, but he doesn’t have that same physical luxury to impose his size at cruiserweight. He’s using his boxing skills more.”
Chua admits he cherished Ramirez capturing the WBA crown, professionally as well as personally. And he also believes “Zurdo” can become the first Mexico-born heavyweight world champion, the same as he was as world super middleweight and cruiserweight champion.
“It meant the world to me,” Chua spoke about ‘Zurdo’ becoming the WBA Cruiserweight World Champion. “The expression on my face when they announced the scores showed how much it meant to me. I’m still fighting for my respect with fans and promoters, especially after the Bivol fight. ‘Zurdo’ is too slick. I believe in this guy! I can see him moving up to heavyweight, but I want to clean up some more things defensively. Sometimes he keeps his head too low, and I don’t want him testing his chin so much. Depending on who the heavyweight champion is when he’s ready, I believe he can be heavyweight champion of the world with his activity so slick and prioritizing his defense. We’re going to double down. As Abel Sanchez (Goulamirian’s trainer) said at the post-fight press conference, he didn’t think ‘Zurdo’ was so slick, offensively and defensively.”
Chua is preparing “Zurdo” to take on WBO Cruiserweight Chris Billam-Smith (20-1, 13 KOs) in a unification match on November 16th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
In addition to several mixed-martial-arts fighters, Chua is also the head trainer for pro boxers such as WBA world super flyweight challenger and WBA #6-rated John “Scrappy” Ramirez (13-1, 9 KOs), undefeated Hawaiian middleweight prospect Jordan “The Patriot” Panthen (9-0, 8 KOs), 2012 Ukrainian Olympian welterweight Taras Shelestyuk (19-0-1, 11 KOs), undefeated New York City welterweight Arnold Gonzalez (15-1, 7 KOs), Armenian super bantamweight Azat “Crazy A” Hovhannisyan (21-5, 17 KOs), and former WBA Inter-Continental Champion “Supreme” Kareem Hackett (12-1, 6 KOs), of Toronto.
Catch the Chua experience, Julian is making a name for himself in boxing circles and drawing fighters to work with him at Brickhouse Boxing Club in North Hollywood, California. The best is yet to come, however, especially if “Zurdo” becomes world heavyweight champion in the not-too-distant future.