Gilberto Ramirez was supposed to headline Saturday night's card at The Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California, and live on DAZN, against Gabe Rosado. Instead, "Zurdo" weighed in at a whopping 7.6 pounds over the light heavyweight limit, forcing the bout to be scrapped.
Mercito Gesta and Joseph "JoJo" Diaz stepped into the main event and delivered a competitive fight, but it didn't take away from the disappointment of Ramirez-Rosado having to be scratched. The sting from the cancellation was something Oscar De La Hoya was still feeling Saturday night — something he made clear while speaking with DAZN's Chris Mannix.
The interview had the Golden Boy Promotions boss doling out pointed words for the embattled Ramirez, even offering a suggestion if "Zurdo" is struggling to make weight this badly.
"'Zurdo' has to really think about and dig deep down inside what he really wants to do," De La Hoya said, moments after calling Ramirez's missing weight "uncalled for" and "unprofessional."
He added: "Does he want to stay in the sport? Or is his heart not into it? So, he's got a lot of thinking to do but I think there's a lot of opportunities for 'Zurdo' and for Rosado as well."
When Mannix asked if De La Hoya would like to see Ramirez go up in weight and fight cruiserweights, De La Hoya smiled.
"You actually gave me a good idea," De La Hoya said. "Why not go up in weight and fight Badou Jack? He just crowned himself world champion. It'll be a great fight so hopefully we can make that happen soon."
Jack delivered a 12th-round TKO of Ilunga Makabu to become the new WBC world cruiserweight champion last month.
Meanwhile, prior to Ramirez tipping the scale overweight, he was outpointed by Dmitry Bivol in a unanimous decision loss last November.