Unified cruiserweight champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez will next fight Yuniel Dorticos.

Ramirez had been linked to a fight with IBF titleholder Jai Opetaia, and while he hopes that matchup will materialize in time, it is Dorticos who has Ramirez’s immediate attention.

“Dorticos is next for me,” WBA and WBO belt holder Ramirez told BoxingScene. “And then I want to be undisputed, but I need to do my first title defense for both my titles, and Dorticos is the next opponent. Probably at the end of May. I don’t know where yet, but we’re working [on it].”

Cuba’s Dorticos is 27-2 (25 KOs) and rated No. 1 by the WBA.

“I don’t know too much about him, but I’ve been watching him since he fought Murat Gassiev in the [World Boxing Super Series] and I saw a couple of fights of him. He’s Dr Knockout, and he’s dangerous.”

Mexico’s Ramirez, 47-1 (30 KOs), is riding high after an impressive 2024. He made just about all of the Fighter of the Year lists by claiming the WBA strap from Arsen Goulamirian and then scalping Chris Billam-Smith for the WBO belt.

“It was my best year because I won the two titles and I moved up to cruiserweight,” Ramirez said, adding that he felt the win over Billam-Smith was the best of the two.

“I think, for me, it was Billam-Smith – it was the best victory, because he was a champion for a long time. They were both champions, but Billam-Smith, I conquered the two world championships. That’s why. He was super-tough and he threw a lot of punches and he can take punches, too. I was really surprised by him.”

Dorticos comes first, but unification is what is driving Ramirez, a gifted southpaw.

“Making money and getting all the belts,” he said, smiling, when asked about his motivation. “That’s my main goal, to have all the belts, my legacy. And that’s what I want – to be a legend one day. I want the legacy.”

Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, is on The Ring ratings panel and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.