Because of the lack of an amateur background and relatively late start in boxing, the now 30-year-old Ramirez isn’t the same fighter who faced Jimenez nearly 1 ½ years ago. At that time, Jimenez’ had already gained world title experience, suffering this lone loss to date, by way of a 12-round unanimous decision, to then-defending WBA Flyweight World Champion Artem Dalakian (21-0, 15 KOs) in London.
“We have history and it shouldn’t be difficult matching the champion and No. 1 contender,” Ramirez continued. “This fight has to happen. It is one of the most exciting fights in the super flyweight division. I wasn’t ready when we fought, the proof is in the pudding. I was capable but not complete at that moment. I had to get the experience I did to be the fighter I am today. I only lacked experience.”
“‘Scrappy’ is a different fighter now because he proved something to himself in that last fight,” Ramirez’ fast-rising young head trainer Julian Chua added. “He proved he belonged with the best in the world. In doing that, though, he got drawn into Jimenez’ kind of fight, and unfortunately he came up short. That’s part of the learning process. Next time, you’ll ee a fighter who is comfortable staying true to himself and his style. He doesn’t have anything to prove anymore. Now it’s about fighting smart, fighting disciplined, and making the other guy adjust to him.”
In other words, it’s “Scrappy Time!”
“I’ll fight him (Jimenez) anywhere, anyplace, anytime,” Ramirez concluded. “This is the life I chose. To beat the best, I need to roll the dice, and I’m going to continue doing just that. I see myself as world champion.”
“Scrappy” is managed by 3 Point Management (3 PM), which has a growing stable of gifted boxers former including WBA & WBO Cruiserweight and WBO Super Middleweight World Champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (48-248-2, 30 KOs), WBA No. 5-rated world super middleweight Darius “DFG” Fulghum (15-1-1, 13 KOs), former WBC Light Heavyweight World Champion Oleksandr “The Nail” Gvozdyk (21-3, 17 KOs), former WBA Inter-Continental Light Heavyweight Champion, Canadian Kareem “Supreme” Hackett (13-1, 7 KOs), Armenian featherweight Azat “Crazy A” Hovhannisyan (23-6, 17 KOs), and German junior welterweight Simon “Saucy” Vollmer (7-0, 3 KOs).
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