Gilberto Ramirez vs Max Bursak Preview April 22nd
WBO Super Middleweight Champion Gilberto Ramirez will be defending his title for the first time this Saturday, April 22nd when he takes on Max Bursak of Ukraine at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. The 12-round bout can be seen on pay-per-view in North America while British fans can catch it live on BoxNation. Ramirez beat Arthur Abraham by unanimous decision last April to win the belt while Bursak’s last outing was last April when he beat Ruslan Schelev by an eight-round unanimous decision.
Ramirez vs Bursak Betting Odds
Here are the winner odds from online sportsbook 5dimes.eu
- Max Bursak +4000
- Gilberto Ramirez -10000
My Pick
The 32-year-old Bursak will climb into the ring with a record of 33-4-1 with 15 Kos. He’s been beaten every time he stepped up in class as all four of his losses were decisions to Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam, Zac Dunn, Jarrod Fletcher and Martín Murray. He’ll be stepping up in class again when he meets Ramirez, who is the first Mexican to capture a world super middleweight title. However, Ramirez is coming off of hand surgery so Bursak might have caught a break in the timing of this fight.
Bursak is a decent sized super middleweight at 6-feet tall with a reach of 71 inches. He’s boxed 262 rounds since turning pro back in 2004. He hasn’t beaten anybody of note though other than Brian Vera and Nick Blackwell. His draw came in his pro debut and was a four-round affair with Viacheslav Kusov. Bursak doesn’t have much in the way of power either as his current knockout ratio stands at just 39 per cent.
The 25-year-old Ramirez is perfect at 34-0 and has 24 Kos to his name. He’s a southpaw and is quite a height for a super middleweight as he stands close to 6-feet-3-inches tall and has a reach of 75 inches. He turned pro back in 2009 and has fought 169 rounds since then. Ramirez possesses pretty good power in his fists and owns a knockout ratio of 71 per cent. Ramirez is a bit of an oddity for such a tall boxer though since he doesn’t always use his height to advantage.
Ramirez often prefers to work his way inside to engage instead of fighting at a safer distance. Along with Abraham, some of his noteworthy opponents have been Derek Edwards, Fulgencio Zuniga, Junior Talipeau, and Derrick Findley. Ramirez has gone undefeated up to now basically because of his knockout power and the level of opponents he’s faced. He needs to tighten up defensively if he wants to remain unbeaten. To do this he should take better advantage of his height and control the distance in his bouts.
Prediction…
Ramirez needs to establish a stiff right jab and catch Bursak when he comes forward. He may also want to initiate the action and dig to his opponent’s body. In addition, he needs to move after throwing his shots so he isn’t in range of any counterpunches. This looks to be a bit of a mismatch on paper, but fortunately fights are decided in the ring. Still, look for Ramirez to successfully defend his title with a win here.
There’s a reason the odds are so high here for Ramirez.
Play: Ramirez -10000 @ 5dimes.eu
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Gilberto Ramirez betting • Max Bursak betting