Ramirez, Valdez to fight on July 23 card in Vegas

2:18 PM ET

Super middleweight titlist Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez and featherweight contender Oscar Valdez, two of the most talented young boxers in Top Rank promoter Bob Arum’s stable, will fight in world title bouts on the undercard of the Terence Crawford-Viktor Postol junior welterweight world title fight this summer.

Featherweight contender Oscar Valdez will fight in a world title bout in July. Chris Farina/Top Rank

Arum on Tuesday formally announced at a news conference in Los Angeles that they will fight on the card July 23 (HBO PPV, 9 p.m. ET) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where Ramirez won his 168-pound world title by shutout decision against longtime division stalwart Arthur Abraham on April 9 on the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley Jr. HBO PPV undercard.

The 24-year-old Ramirez (34-0, 24 KOs), of Mexico, will be making his first title defense against Germany’s Dominik Britsch (32-2-1, 11 KOs), 28, in the co-feature.

“I am very excited to be making my first world title defense. I am working hard to make it a successful defense as I plan to be a world champion for a long time,” Ramirez said. “Dominik is a tough challenger, very strong. I don’t know a lot about him personally but I will train hard as always. It feels great being on another HBO Pay-Per- View event. One day I want to be in the main event of a pay per view. That goal motivates me to do my best.”

Britsch has won four fights in a row since an eight-round decision loss in 2014 but is taking a big step up in competition.

“I am …

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