Arthur Abraham negotiating mandatory defense against Gilberto Ramirez

Time to put up or shut up.

Much-hyped Mexican prospect Gilberto "Zurdo de Oro" Ramirez, who became the WBO mandatory challenger by effectively shutting out Gevorg Khatchikian in November, is currently in talks to face super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham according to ESPN.

Neither a date nor location have been selected; Abraham would prefer his usual stomping grounds in Germany, while Ramirez promoter Bob Arum intends to slot the fight in as a co-feature for April 9th's Pacquiao-Bradley III card.

Abraham (44-4, 29 KO), who turns thirty-six next month, hasn't been the destroyer of worlds he once resembled back at middleweight, but despite just one knockout in his last eight wins, remains one of the top 168-pounders in the game. "King Arthur's" 2015 campaign included a terrific scrap with Paul Smith, a decisive stamp on his quadrilogy with Robert Stieglitz, and a narrow decision over Martin Murray.

Our own Scott Christ listed Ramirez (33-0, 24 KO) as one of the top-two prospects in the super middleweight division and he's had quite a bit of promotional push; hell, his nickname literally means "Golden Lefty." That said, he had a shaky start to the year, defeating Maxim Vlasov in unimpressive fashion, and subsequent wins over Derek Edwards and Khatchikian didn't do much to assuage concerns about his ceiling.

Still, he's over a decade younger than Abraham and will have a six-inch height advantage over the 5'9" German. Think he's ready for the King?