By: Sean Crose
Zurdo Ramirez put his two cruiserweight titles on the line Saturday night in California. His opponent was the hard hitting vet Yuniel Dorticos. With Ramirez’ WBA and WBO titles at stake, the bout was scheduled for a championship 12 rounds. The opening round was close and interesting. Both men threw, but Zurdo seemed to throw more often. Dorticos and Ramirez took to throwing some heavy leather in the second. Dorticos pushed the action in the third while Ramirez largely remained patient. Both fighters fired well in the fourth, with Dorticos perhaps edging the action. The fifth was close, too, though Zurdo was the busier fighter.
The sixth was intriguing but it was Zurdo who landed more punches. Still, the fight was neck in neck – or at least it should have been as far as the judges were concerned. Zurdo and Dorticos banged away at each other in a tough seventh round. Dorticos appeared to edge it but a late rally from Zurdo might have swayed the judges. Zurdo’s stringing straight punches told the story in the eighth round – thought by no means was Dorticos being wiped out by the champion. In truth it was an entertaining fight. The referee deducted a point from Dorticos in the important tenth for repeated low blows. Dorticos fought hard to dominate the remainder of the round, though it may not have been enough.
Although Zurdo fought quite well in the eleventh the round may have gone to Dorticos, who really put in the work as the round wore on. The twelfth and final round was close – as pretty much all the previous eleven rounds had been. Yet it was Zurdo who nailed Dorticos over and over again with accurate shots. It was an excellent fight, one which ultimately saw Zurdo get the judge’s nod via unanimous decision.