Top Rank close to deal with two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez

A little less than a year after leaving the Cuban national team while they were training in Mexico, Robeisy Ramirez is reportedly close to a deal to finally turn pro with Top Rank, according to Mike Coppinger.

Ramirez, 25, is one of the best amateur fighters of this decade. He won gold at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games and 2010 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships as a bantamweight (123 pounds), then gold at the 2011 Pan American Games as a flyweight (115 pounds). He won gold at the Olympic Games in 2012 as a flyweight, then moved back up to bantamweight and won gold at the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games and the 2016 Olympic Games.

Watching him in London and Rio, it was clear that Ramirez was one of the best talents out there.

In London, he beat some really good fighters in Chatchai Butdee, Andrew Selby, Michael Conlan, and Tugstsogt Nyambayar. Three of these guys — Selby, Conlan, and Nyambayar — are now good pro prospects.

In Rio, he beat Shiva Thapa, Mohamed Hamout, Zhang Jiawei, Murodjon Akhmadaliev, and Shakur Stevenson. Stevenson is already a top 10-type guy at featherweight, while Akhmadaliev is a mandatory world title challenger at super bantamweight.

The question for Ramirez in the pro ranks really won’t be one of talent, but of dedication and desire to keep boxing. Sometimes we get a Guillermo Rigondeaux or a Yuriorkis Gamboa who more or less live up to the hype, any bad career decisions aside. Sometimes we get a Yan Barthelemy or Odlanier Solis.

Hopefully, Ramirez is keen to turn pro and still the type of fighter we saw in the amateurs. If he is, then you’re going to want to keep tabs on him immediately. If he’s not, then oh well, really, I’m not gonna be having a tantrum if he doesn’t pan out. But if he really has the desire and drive, the sport of boxing is getting a genuine blue-chip talent added to the ranks.