The controversial reign of French WBA ‘super’ cruiserweight champion Arsen Goulamirian may finally come to an end following the revelation that Gilberto Ramirez―the former WBO super middleweight champion and 175 lbs world title challenger―will be facing Goulamirian in a mandated title bout. With Goulamirian better known for his long bouts of inactivity, Ramirez’ emergence as a title challenger finally provides the division and the sport with an opportunity to see the WBA title finally come in the hands of a champion that is active. Their fight is set to be promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and is scheduled for March 30th at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California.

Arsen Goulamirian (27-0, 19 KO’s), while talented, has not done boxing any good with long lapses of time out of the ring. The inactivity seemed to start in December of 2019 following a successful title defense over Moldovan opponent Constantin Bejenaru whiich subsequently resulted in Goulamarian lingering in retirement for roughly three years until he made his return against Russian contender Aleksei Egorov (12-1, 8 KO’s) in November of 2022.

While the COVID-19 pandemic likely played a role in Goulamirian being unable to fight, and he did eventually test positive for COVID which prompted his fight with Egorov to be rescheduled, Goulamirian again neglected to fight following his fight against Egorov and well than a year after he will finally be facing up-and-coming contender Gilberto Ramirez (45-1, 13 KO’s) who boasts plenty of experience as a former world champion and world title challenger.

To many, Gilberto Ramirez is far from an unknown commodity in boxing, having served as the WBO super middleweight champion from 2016 to 2018 during which he defended his title five times. He had less luck when he moved up to light-heavyweight and sought to claim Dmitry Bivol’s (22-0, 11 KO’s) WBA title only to find himself completely dominated.

Now settling in at cruiserweight, Ramirez has thus far competed only once against American former light-heavyweight world champion Joe Smith Jr. (28-5, 22 KO’s) who he defeated over the course of ten rounds. Though still inexperienced at cruiserweight, Ramirez’ performance against Smith seems to have been enough for him to get boosted up the division’s rankings rapidly and has now landed him an opportunity against Arsen Goulamirian.

Originally, Goulamirian was supposed to face Cuban contender Yuniel Dorticos (26-2, 24 KO’s) after the two had been ordered to face each other in a mandated bout, but Goulamirian reportedly proceeded to ask for an exemption to face Gilberto Ramirez―with the winner between Goulamirian and Ramirez now expected to face Dorticos in a mandatory defense of the WBA cruiserweight title ,meaning that the Goulamirian-Ramirez bout is considered a voluntary bout.

While it is difficult to ascertain who will be tipped as the favorite, Ramirez seems to have the edge due to him being younger and having been decisively more active than Goulamirian has been over the past two years. However, it will be a tough match for both fighters as they seek a win over the other while facing arguably one of the most dangerous opponents they have both faced.