לאס וגאס (מאי 25, 2021) – Back in February of 2019, ארגון אגרוף עולמי (WBO) אלוף סופר במשקל בינוניג'ילברטו "Zurdo" רמירז had made a decision to move up to fight in the light heavyweight division, and he was searching for a new head trainer.
רמירז (41-0, 27 קוס) immediately connected with a then 28-year-oldג'וליאן צ'ואה, a former amateur boxer who had been training boxers atפרדי רואץ '’s famed Wildcard Boxing Club in Hollywood, California. “Zurdo” and Chua are now 2-0 (2 קוס) and preparing for a mega-fought later this year, ideally, against undefeated World Boxing Association (WBA) Super Light Heavyweight Championדמיטרי ביבול (17-0, 11 קוס).
How Ramirez ended up with Chua as he head trainer isn’t a typical boxing story. After all, “Zurdo” was the first Mexican world super middleweight champion, ספורט 29-0 שיא מקצוענים, ורק 27 when they first met.
Ramirez’ manager, David Suh, conducted a search to hire Ramirez’ chief second. He had a list that included some of the top trainers in the industry, as well as a young, relatively unknown – at least outside of southern California – in Chua.
“I don’t know how I got on that list,” a humble Chua said. “There was going to be a tryout of sorts to determine who would work with ‘Zurdo.’ We trained together in Long Beach (where Ramirez was training) and then I met with David for coffee. He asked if I was interested in becoming the head trainer. We trained together a little more. He liked the way I trained, and we got along well. I texted David saying we liked working together and that I was interested in becoming his head trainer.
“We clicked right away, and we learned things about each other and how we liked to train. I study a lot and do a lot of research of how he had been trained, because I wanted to help him to improve. I was getting four fighters ready in LA and “Zurdo” couldn’t go there for sparring. I said I couldn’t leave these fighters and go to Santa Barbara. “Zurdo” respected me even more for not jumping ship from those four fighters for a better opportunity. We still wanted to work with each other, and ‘Zurdo’ made it work. I went to Long Beach twice a week, he came to Wildcard three times.”
Ramirez won his light heavyweight debut April 12, 2019, כאשרטומי Karpency (29-6-1) לא היה מסוגל להמשיך אחרי ארבעה סיבובים, followed last December 18ה עם 10ה round stoppage ofAlfonso Lopez (32-3) to capture the North American Boxing Federation (NABF) כותרת.
Chua was trained by Roach when he was an amateur from Indiana, but when Chua started at Wildcard, Roach’s assistantאריק בראון became Chua’s mentor. During his training career atWildcard West Boxing, known now as Churchill Boxing in Santa Barbara, Chua has trained several world champions in boxing and MMA.
The 29-year-old Ramirez, who recently signed an exclusive promotional contract withאוסקר דה לה הויה’s Golden Boy Promotions, is currently ranked No. 3 by the WBA and WBO. “Zurdo” returns to action July 9ה in Los Angeles againstסאליבן Barrera (22-3, 14 קוס).
Whether it’s Bivol, or the other world light heavyweight champions — ארתור בטרבייב וג'ו סמית – “Zurdo” and Chua are preparing to beat the best for Ramirez to wear the coveted World championship crown in a second division.
מידע:
Instagram: @zurdoramirez, @zurdopromotions
טוויטר: @ZurdoPromotions, @ GilbertoZurdoRamirez