Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez, Yuniel Dorticos Granted 10-Day Extension, WBA Purse Bid Delayed

Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez and Yuniel Dorticos were granted additional time to reach a deal.

A ten-day delay has come with the ordered WBA cruiserweight title fight, the sanctioning body announced Monday. The matter was scheduled for a purse bid hearing on Tuesday but was postponed with the hopes that the two sides will come to terms.

“The World Boxing Association (WBA) Championships Committee approved the request.. to extend the negotiation period,” the WBA stated. “This Tuesday, August 27, the auction for the fight was due to take place. At the request of the parties, the WBA gave permission for them to continue negotiating and reach an agreement.

“The Committee will monitor all talks and hopes that in the next few days there will be good news regarding the agreement for the fight.”

Ramirez-Dorticos was ordered on July 1 and assigned a 30-day negotiation period.

It was the first piece of business for Ramirez (46-1, 30 knockouts) since the end of his three-year contract with Golden Boy Promotions. The Mexican southpaw is expected to continue doing business with them as a co-promotion with his self-owned Zurdo Promotions.

Dorticos (27-2, 25 KOs), a former WBA and IBF titlist, is co-promoted by Warriors Boxing and The Heavyweight Factory.

Ramirez dethroned long-reigning but grossly inactive Arsen Goulamirian to win the title on March 30 in Inglewood, California. Their entertaining DAZN main event saw Ramirez outpoint the California-based Armenian.

It marked the start of a second divisional title reign for Ramirez, a 33-year-old southpaw who previously held the WBO super middleweight belt. He came up well short in a Nov. 2022 challenge of WBA 175-pound titlist Dmitry Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs).

Two wins have followed since a move up to cruiserweight, where Ramirez is ranked No. 4 by The Ring.

Both of Dorticos’ previous title reigns during the World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) cruiserweight tournaments. He was stopped in the 12^th round by Murat Gassiev in their Feb. 2018 WBSS season one semifinal and unification bout between unbeaten titlists.

Dorticos advanced to the WBSS final during the second season, but dropped a twelve-round decision to Mairis Briedis (28-3, 20 KOs).

Just three fights have followed, all ending in early knockouts. Dorticos ended an eighteen-month inactive stretch with a first-round stoppage of Alan Campa on June 8 in Hollywood, Florida. He was dropped from The Ring top 10 after one year out of the ring. The win over Campa was not recognized by The Ring Ratings Panel as grounds to re-enter the rankings just yet.

However, he was already the established WBA mandatory challenger. Ramirez was afforded a title shot ahead of the 38-year-old Cuban, on the condition they immediately meet.

That fight is now locked in, per WBA rule C.13. Neither boxer can enter another fight until the terms are satisfied by all parties for this contest.

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