Gilberto Ramirez vs Yunier Dorticos Preview June 28th, 2025
WBA/WBO Cruiserweight Champion Gilberto Ramirez of Mexico meets former IBF champion Yunier Dorticos of Cuba this Saturday, June 28th. The 12-rounder from Anaheim, California can be seen live in most nations on DAZN pay-per-view on the undercard of the Jake Paul vs Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. bout. Ramirez last fought in November when be beat Chris Billam-Smith by unanimous decision to take his WBO Belt after downing Arsen Goulamirian via a wide unanimous decision eight months earlier to capture the WBA Title. Dorticos last saw action 12 months ago when he stopped Alan Campa in just 60 seconds.
Ramirez vs Dorticos Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Yunier Dorticos +643
- Gilberto Ramirez -1250
My Pick
The 34-year-old Ramirez is a southpaw who became the first Mexican to capture a world super middleweight title when he beat Arthur Abraham via unanimous decision in 2016 for the WBO Belt. He’ll enter the ring with an impressive record of 47-1 with 30 Ko’s with his lone loss coming to Dmitry Bivol by unanimous decision in November, 2022 in a shot at the WBA Super Light Heavyweight Belt. Ramirez stands just under 6-feet-3-inches tall and has a reach of 75 inches. He made his pro debut back in 2009 and has 301 rounds in the bank since.
Ramirez possesses pretty good power in his fists as 63.8 per cent of his wins have been by stoppage, including five of his past eight. He’s a bit of an oddity for such a tall boxer though since he doesn’t always use his height to his advantage. Ramirez often prefers to work his way inside to engage instead of fighting at a safer distance. After beating Abraham, he defended his super middleweight title against Max Bursak and Jesse Hart by unanimous decisions and stopped Habib Ahmed in six rounds.
He then beat Roamer Alexis Angulo by unanimous decision and Jesse Hart by majority decision in a rematch before moving up to light heavyweight to face Tommy Karpency and stopped him after four rounds. He then stopped Alfonso Lopez for the NABF Light Heavyweight Crown and then decided to vacate the 175 lb division and move up to cruiserweight where he beat Joe Smith by a wide 10-round unanimous decision. Overall, Ramirez has stopped six of his last 12 opponents after going the distance in eight out of 12 at one point.
Some of his other noteworthy wins have been against Sullivan Barrera, Derek Edwards, Fulgencio Zuniga, Junior Talipeau, and Derrick Findley. Ramirez has been successful up to now basically due to a combination of power, skill and aggressiveness but was quite disappointing in his loss to Bivol. He needs to tighten up defensively if he hopes to keep his belts but has displayed a solid chin up to now. However, he may be more effective if he took better advantage of his height and controlled the distance in his bouts.
Dorticos is now 39 years old and a former WBA Cruiserweight Champion who lost his crown to Murat Gassiev in February of 2018 in the semifinals of the first World Boxing Super Series. Dorticos had crushed Dmitry Kudryashov in the second round earlier in the tournament but was stopped by Gassiev with eight seconds left in the fight. However he won the vacant IBF Title in 2019 by stopping Andrew Tabiti in the 10th round. He lost that crown in his very next fight however when Mairis Briedis edged him via majority decision.
Dorticos enters this bout with a record of 27-2 with 25 big Ko’s and has boxed just 112 rounds since turning pro back in 2009, mainly due to his quick knockouts. There’s no questioning the Cuban’s amazing power as 92.6 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage. The only fights he won over the distance were against Edison Miranda in 10 rounds in 2014 for the WBC Latino Title and a 12-round nod over Mateusz Masternak in 2018. Dorticos is also a good-sized cruiserweight at 6-feet-3-inches tall with an 80-inch reach, so has a five-inch reach advantage over Ramirez.
The biggest wins in Dorticos’ career have been against Tabiti, Miranda, Masternak, Galen Brown, Kudryashov, Youri Kalenga, Fulgencio Zuniga and Eric Fields. Like several other Cuban-born boxers, Dorticos now fights out of Miami, Florida. He had an extensive amateur career of about 260 bouts and won numerous medals and events. Since turning pro Dorticos has won several minor titles as well such as the WBC Latino Cruiserweight, and USBA Cruiserweight Titles. He definitely has power but like most Cuban boxers also has some fine skills to display in the squared circle.
Prediction…
Fans were disappointed in Ramirez’s performance against Bivol as the devastating puncher looked quite timid and lethargic as he didn’t let his hands go nearly enough, but he rebounded quite well against Joe Smith Jr, Goulamirian and Billam-Smith. He was too cautious against Bivol though and was easily outboxed. Ramirez is most effective when he sticks to his strengths which are aggression and power and simply lets his hands go. He’s got a great chin and will certainly need it this weekend. Dorticos hasn’t been overly active for several years and that may hurt him as he fought just once in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2024 and didn’t fight at all in 2023. When he does fight, he often ends things pretty early due to his power. I’d favour Dorticos over many opponents but give the edge to Ramirez here in what could be a candidate for fight of the year due to his rock-solid chin and style. The odds should be closer though and they’re worth a gamble on Dorticos.
Ramirez’s chin and natural aggression should be the difference.
Play: Ramirez -1250 @ BetOnline.ag
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Gilberto Ramirez betting • Yunier Dorticos betting