Former WBO super-middleweight champion Gilberto Ramirez continued his campaign at 175lbs with a 10thround victory over Houston’s Alfonso Lopez at the Galveston Island Convention Center in Texas on Friday night.
In his first fight after leaving promoters Top Rank, Mexican Ramirez (41-0, 27 KOs) won as he pleased, flooring Lopez (32-4, 25 KOs) in the second and then largely dictating from range before detonating a flush right hand that dropped his foe for a second time and ended the fight in the 10th.
The win ended a 20-month hiatus for southpaw Ramirez who is now self-promoting under his own Zurdo Promotions banner. He is currently the WBC’s No.1 contender at 175lbs.
On the same show, widely-avoided heavyweight contender Michael Hunter (19-1-1, 13 KOs) marked time with a fourth round KO of West Virginia southpaw Shawn Laughery (10-4, 6 KOs).
Hunter dropped Laughery in the opening session with a right uppercut as the gap in class swiftly became evident. The world-rated Hunter floored Laughery again in the fourth with a right hand where he was counted out on one knee.
The Las Vegas heavyweight swiftly turned his attention to a more meaningful assignment. “I would like to fight Dillian Whyte,” said Hunter. “They’ve been saying he’s the boogeyman. I guess I outboogeyed the boogeyman. I called out Dillian Whyte, I even offered to step in on short notice for this next fight. I fought to a draw with Alexander Povetkin. He got knocked out by Povetkin. I want to fight Dillian Whyte but really anyone can get it.”