Former super middleweight champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (44-1, 30 KOs) faces former light heavyweight champion Joe Smith Jr (28-4, 22 KOs) at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on Saturday, October 7. The pair squares off in the 12-round cruiserweight bout, contested at 190-pound catchweight. The event airs live stream on DAZN.
In addition to the previously announced co-feature, pitting Los Angeles native John “Scrappy” Ramirez (12-0, 9 KOs) against Ronal Batista (15-3, 9 KOs) of Panama, a series of undercard bouts has been announced today. No. 2-ranked Ramirez and No. 7-ranked Batista meet in the WBA super flyweight world title eliminator.
Joining Zurdo vs Smith undercard, Bektemir Melikuziev faces former world title challenger Alantez Fox. Melikuziev (12-1, 9 KOs) of Indio, California by way of Shoimbek, Uzbekistan brings to the ring his WBA Intercontinental super middleweight title that he won by unanimous decision in the rematch against Gabriel Rosado in April. Fox (28-4-1, 13 KOs) of Upper Marlboro, Maryland lost two of his previous bouts by majority decision against Erik Bazinyan in February and via fourth-round TKO against David Morrell back in December 2021 in his bid to land WBA super middleweight title.
Also on the card, Tristan Kalkreuth (11-1, 8 KOs) goes through the ropes against a to be announced opponent in a six-rounder at cruiserweight. The 21-year-old native of Carollton, Texas last fought in July when he KO’d Joe Jones in the second round.
Among the prelims, Fort Lauderdale’s Eric Tudor (9-0, 6 KOs) is in an eight-round action at super welterweight and Daniel Luna (3-0, 3 KOs) of Torrance, California in a four-round battle at super lightweight.
As well, Jahyae Brown (13-1, 9 KOs) of Schenectady, New York and Victor Toney (7-2-1 6 KOs) of Youngstown, Ohio go head to head in an eight-round junior middleweight bout. Plus, Rajon Chance (8-0-1, 6 KOs) of New Jersey takes on Orlando Perez Zapata (13-0 9 KOs) of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in an eight-round featherweight fight.
The finalized fight card is expected to be announced shortly. The current lineup can be found below.
Zurdo vs Smith fight card
Main card
- Gilberto Zurdo Ramirez vs. Joe Smith Jr, 12 rounds, cruiserweight
- John Ramirez vs. Ronal Batista, 12 rounds, super flyweight – WBA title eliminator
- Bektemir Melikuziev vs. Alantez Fox, 10 rounds, super middleweight – Fox’s WBA Intercontinental title
- Tristan Kalkreuth vs. TBA, 6 rounds, cruiserweight
Undercard
- Eric Tudor vs. TBA, 8 rounds, super welterweight
- Daniel Luna vs. TBA, 4 rounds, super lightweight
- Jahyae Brown vs. Victor Toney, 8 rounds, junior middleweight
- Rajon Chance vs. Orlando Perez Zapata, 8 rounds, featherweight
In the UK and Australia, Zurdo vs Smith airs live on Sunday, October 8.
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