In Los Angeles, boxer Arsen Goulamirian wants to relaunch a dotted career

Twenty-seven fights won, including 19 by knockout, no defeats. Better still, he is the only French boxer to hold a world belt. And yet, “if you go out in the street and ask someone who Arsen Goulamirian is, the guys don’t know.” This observation was made by the person himself to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Saturday March 30 in Los Angeles (California) – during the night from Saturday to Sunday in Paris – Arsen Goulamirian defends his WBA (World Boxing Association, one of the four major international professional federations) light heavyweight title (weight category which concerns athletes weighing between 79.4 kg and 90.7 kg) against Mexican Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez.

This meeting, the 36-year-old Franco-Armenian has been preparing for it since January, he who has not entered the ring for an official duel since November 2022 and his victory by unanimous decision against the Russian Aleksei Egorov, in Le Cannet (Alpes-Maritimes).

To be honest, Arsen Goulamirian has only had one fight since the start of 2020, with a series of problems. Covid, injuries… Promoter problems, above all. People ” not serious “which cut off the momentum of a promising career.

What made it last? This belt acquired in 2018 at the expense of Belgian Ryad Merhy and which he has already defended – successfully – four times. This belt, he tells The Team, which he keeps carefully in his room and which he sees as soon as he wakes up. Without her, he might have hung up his gloves.

“The ring is something else entirely, my friend”

Another motivation for Arsen Goulamirian: having the opportunity to fight for the first time in the United States, a country where his discipline is appreciated and valued. Not like on this side of the Atlantic, he believes: “Boxing is not welcome, not recognized in France. There is no recognized boxer, unless you are an Olympic champion like Tony Yoka, and even then. »

The Habs signed for two fights with Golden Boy Promotions, the company of former star boxer Oscar De La Hoya, of which Gilberto Ramirez is one of the protégés. At 32 years old, he can also boast a good record: 45 victories, including 30 by knockout, and one defeat.

“He’s a guy who shouldn’t be let into the fight, he needs to be pressed, worn down, he’s a snake in the ring, who hangs on, who knows how to get out of it so as not to take too many blows (…). There are lower categories, but light heavyweight is my category and in my category no one can do anything”analyzes Arsen Goulamirian.

If the latter can count on the support of the Armenian community in the City of Angels, there is a good chance that the audience at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood (south of Los Angeles) will lean massively this Saturday in favor of the Mexican. Not much to worry about for the Frenchman though: “The spectators are one thing, you can shout or do whatever you want, the ring is something completely different, my friend. »

Determined to relaunch a stagnant career, which he imagines will continue for another year or two, Arsen Goulamirian warns: “This fight is a step that I must take. I want to unify, have at least two belts before leaving boxing. »