Is he??? Now both have belts BUT Both guys are in late 20s BUT have yet to fight a top 5 guy... Valdez has yet to fight Mares or Russel Jr or Abner or Selby??? I mean Quigg is a step in right direction BUT he already has 5 defenses, mostly soft touches Similar with Zurdo. Hart was maybe top 15 at 168... BUT he has had title a little.while but never even been in discussions with Degale or Eubanks or Benavidez or Groves?!!! Now I am a fan of both BUT they need to fight top 5 guys now. Don't hold the belts & make weak ass mandatories... The guy Zurdo is fighting next is ranked in the 60s! SMH Both are in stacked divisions also... They are not 19 year old prospects BOB step it up!!!!
I think Ramirez fought his best opponent before he actually won that WBO strap against a past it AA, in Vlasov. After that he never really fought anyone at that level anymore and became a typical WBO strap holder. I also think his next opponent was handpicked to become his first stoppage victim, as that guy shouldn't be anywhere near a titleshot. But there shouldn't be any complains at this point about Valdez as he already fought a couple of mid to low top 10 opponents, and in contrast to Ramirez, is fighting another one next. Probably the best opponent he faced thus far. Of course I'd like to see him against the division's best, but there might be a chance that Arum is grooming him to become a Loma vict... er... opponent in the near future.
For all of the big talk of Zurdo ready to face Golovkin you'd like to think that his opposition would of at least be top 10 when he became champ. His opponents as @Robney above has said where better before he became champion.
