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Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez became the first Mexican fighter to ever win a super middleweight world title tonight in Las Vegas, shutting out Arthur Abraham over 12 rounds on all three judges' cards, 120-108, to lift the WBO 168-pound title on the Pacquiao-Bradley III undercard.
Ramirez (34-0, 24 KO) dictated the pace, range, and pretty much everything else to do with the fight, as Abraham (44-5, 29 KO) just couldn't get untracked against a taller, rangier, and younger fighter tonight. Abraham has had a long and impressive run at 160 and 168 pounds, but tonight, at age 36, he looked outclassed.
A lot of that was simply the style matchup, but even considering that this was as tailor made a fight at this level as Ramirez is likely to find, the young fighter was highly impressive. He whacked Abraham repeatedly to the body, really only took a handful of truly clean shots in the fight, and by the final few rounds, seemed to have sapped his opponent's will to try and make the fight competitive, which it really never was.
BLH's Wil Esco scored the fight 118-110, while I had it 119-109, both us scoring it for Ramirez.