Gilberto 'Zurdo' Ramirez takes unanimous decision over Yuniel Dorticos, sends clear message to Jai Opetaia

Gilberto 'Zurdo' Ramirez took a dangerous knockout artist in Yuniel Dorticos and proved his level of sweet science is far superior.

The WBA/WBO unified cruiserweight world champion retained his titles with a comfortable unanimous decision win over Dorticos at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, and live on DAZN Pay-Per-View, on Saturday night.

Judges scored it 115-112, 115-112, and 117-110 all in favor of Ramirez who improved to 48-1 (30 KOs) before sending a clear message to Jai Opetaia.

"That's the fight that I want," Ramirez told DAZN's Chris Mannix about Opetaia, the IBF cruiserweight titleholder, of the bout he desires next. "I'm the king."

Ramirez added to Opetaia: "Make sure you get my phone and call me. I want it."

The latter was in response to Opetaia calling Ramirez out earlier in the month.

Ramirez made sure to have his hand raised behind stellar footwork and spacing Saturday night, using both in tandem to unleash plenty of multi-punch combinations that scored him points with judges.

Though Dorticos found success trapping Ramirez on the ropes at times, teeing off with heavy-handed shots, he was outclassed in sweet science skills and the point he had docked for repeated low blows in the 10th round did not help his cause.

If there is a concern with Ramirez's winning performance, it might be being able to generate enough power to hang with Opetaia (28-0, 22 KOs) who not only possesses explosive punching in both hands but the ability to match sweet science skills as well.

Still, 'Zurdo' believes he is tops at cruiserweight and he might just get his chance to prove it with his brand of high-volume punching.

Earlier in the night, Oscar De La Hoya, Ramirez's promoter at Golden Boy, acknowledged that the Ramirez-Opetaia fight is the one to make for his fighter next, but that a Ramirez-David Benavidez fight might perform better domestically with more star power.