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Mike CoppingerESPN
Gilberto Ramirez was unofficially 182.6 pounds ahead of Friday’s weigh-in and the former champion’s 175-pound fight vs. Gabe Rosado on Saturday in Long Beach, California, has been cancelled, sources told ESPN.
Former champion Joseph Diaz Jr. will fight Mercito Gesta in the new Golden Boy on DAZN main event, sources said. Diaz also failed to make weight for the event, but according to the sources, the fight will still take place.
“Zurdo” Ramirez (44-1, 30 KOs) was routed by Dmitry Bivol in a 175-pound title fight in November. ESPN’s No. 5 light heavyweight, Ramirez won all five of his 175-pound bouts inside the distance before he stepped up to Bivol for the title opportunity. Mexico’s Ramirez, 31, vacated his super middleweight title in 2019 after five successful defenses at 168 pounds.
Rosado (26-16-1, 15 KOs) has lost three consecutive fights since he scored an upset victory over Bektemir Melikuziev in June 2021 with a highlight-reel KO. Rosado has never competed 168 pounds and was moving up one weight class for the fight with Ramirez. The 37-year-old gatekeeper fights out of Los Angeles.
Diaz, a 30-year-old Olympian from Southern California, is coming off a decision defeat to contender William Zepeda in November. That followed a decision loss to current undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney in December 2021. Diaz (32-3-1, 15 KOs) is a former champion at 130 pounds.
Gesta (33-3-3, 17 KOs) is a native of the Philippines. He was slated to fight Ryan Garcia on Jan. 28, but Garcia decided to bypass a tune-up bout to head directly into the April 22 superfight vs. Gervonta Davis.