Light heavyweight contender Albert Ramirez had been locked in for training camp in France, focusing on mastering new techniques ahead of his fight this Thursday against Artur Ziyatdinov in Montreal, Canada. Training in France has also given the Venezuelan power puncher the opportunity to work on a few French phrases, which he can use to greet the Quebecois crowd in his first fight in the Canadian province where his new promoter, Eye of the Tiger, is based.

“Merci Beaucoup, Au Revoir, Bonjour Canada,” said the Spanish speaking Ramirez (17-0, 15 knockouts), reciting a few of the phrases he picked up during his training camp in Toulouse, France, where he had been since Dec. 5 working with new coach Mehdi Oumiha, cousin of 2016 Olympic silver medalist Sofiane Oumiha, who will round out a team that already includes Colombian trainer Jacobo Crismatt.

“I’m trying to learn a bit but I’ve been focused on the training.”

Ramirez will get to display some of the skills he has brushed up on as well in his ten-round bout, which will take place at Casino Montreal. The fight will be the co-featured bout underneath the Erik Bazinyan-Billi Facundo Godoy bout, which will be streamed live simultaneously by ESPN+ and Punching Grace.

The 31-year-old Ramirez, who was born in El Vigia, Venezuela but now lives in the northeastern Colombian city of Valledupar, has an all-action style that the Quebecois fans can appreciate. The southpaw fighter is heavy-handed in both hands, which he has displayed in his first round knockouts of unbeaten fighters Braian Suarez and Jacob Dickson. Ramirez has worked on his craft since age 8, when his cousin, former IBF super middleweight titleholder Jose Uzcategui, introduced him to boxing. Ramirez earned silver at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, and represented Venezuela at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.

Now he’s rated in the top 15 by all four major sanctioning bodies, including no. 4 by the WBA and could be closing in on a world title opportunity in an exciting division where his Eye of the Tiger stablemate Artur Beterbiev holds the WBC, IBF and WBO belts, and is on a collision course with Dmitry Bivol, who holds the WBA title.

“For the moment in front of me I have Artur and I’m focused on this fight. My manager and promoter will decide when it’s the correct time to do the title shot,” said Ramirez, who weighed 174.8 pounds on Wednesday, while Ziyatdinov weighed 174.3 pounds.

Karim Bouzidi, who has managed Ramirez since shortly after he turned pro in 2018, says a showdown with Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) would be a great fight, but says they are in no rush.

“If you take Artur Beterbiev, Artur is someone who is really special in boxing. I think Albert Ramirez is also capable of putting on high end boxing. I would not say that we are ready tomorrow for a world title shot because I’d like for Albert to respect the steps that we proposed to him because he has to continue to learn his craft,” said Bouzidi.

“But with honesty, I would say that Albert will be world champion. If we have the opportunity to do it this year, great, we will be ready for this.”

First Ramirez must get past Ziyatdinov (15-1, 12 KOs), a 27-year-old who is originally from Uzbekistan but now makes his home in Montreal. Ramirez was originally scheduled to face once-beaten American Charles Foster in a step-up bout before Foster withdrew with an injury earlier this month.

Ziyatdinov, who had previously been with Eye of the Tiger, has won three straight since his lone defeat, a unanimous decision loss to Gasan Gasanov in Moscow three years ago.

“I’m ready for Artur or anybody else. I don’t want to undermine his abilities as a boxer, but I feel like I’m ready for him and I want to put on a good show in Montreal,” said Ramirez, who is fighting for the third time since signing with Eye of the Tiger, which is headed by President Camille Estephan and Director of Boxing Development Marc Ramsay

While it isn’t written in stone yet what 2024 has in store for Ramirez, Bouzidi believes the Ziyatdinov fight is the start of a pivotal year for the light heavyweight contender.

“As a boxer and person he’s humble, he wants to win all the fights and to be a world champion. For him it’s not a dream, it can be a reality. That’s why I think Marc and Camille decided to work with us. Albert is highly talented and I hope we get a title shot this year. Whatever we put in front of Albert, he will be ready for that,” said Bouzidi.

“He will be something big in boxing.”

Ryan Songalia has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler and The Guardian, and is part of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism Class of 2020. He can be reached at [email protected].