Arthur Abraham vs. Gilberto Ramirez: Winner, Scorecard and Reaction

Gilberto Ramirez made history Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, becoming the first Mexican boxer to win a super middleweight world title with a 12-round unanimous-decision win over the aging Arthur Abraham.

HBO Boxing provided the scores, a shutout in favor of Ramirez:

Fighting on the undercard of the third chapter in the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley Jr. trilogy, Ramirez (34-0, 24 KOs) beautifully executed his game plan to capture Abraham's WBO world super middleweight title.

Ramirez's circling movement, long reach and southpaw stance made it difficult for Abraham (44-5, 29 KOs), and he deftly avoided power punches while landing a few stinging counterpunches of his own. Ramirez made the three-time world champion look statuesque and won deservedly. 

CompuBox provided the final punch stats:

The chance to make history was not lost on the 24-year-old Ramirez. 

"I have added motivation to win this fight because it means more than just winning a world title," Ramirez told ESPN.com's Dan Rafael. "Obviously, I do know what this is—it's an opportunity to make history."

The bout was Abraham's first outside of Germany since he lost to Andre Ward in California in May 2011. Hoping to endear himself to a wider swath of boxing fans in the twilight of his career, Abraham instead looked like a worn-out boxer with too many hard rounds under his belt.

Isaac Brekken/Associated Press

Typically a slow, calculating starter, Abraham spent the first round letting Ramirez launch shots into his trademark high guard.

Abraham didn't open up until the middle of the second round, walking forward and forcing Ramirez to exchange. Zurdo got the better of him in this strategy, sneaking in a hard right hook to the cheek that staggered Abraham.

Queensberry Rules noted Abraham isn't often on the wrong end of dizzying blows: 

The blow emboldened Ramirez, as he started to go to the body more in an attempt to get Abraham to bring down his guard. The 36-year-old titleholder looked uncomfortable against Ramirez's southpaw stance, finding it difficult to get his jab going.

Bad Left Hook provided an unflattering quote from boxing analyst Harold Lederman: 

Knowing Ramirez hadn't faced many quality boxers to this point, Abraham went to the veteran bag of tricks, using clinches and punches to the back of the head to frustrate the challenger. Ramirez took the bait on occasion, pushing off with his shoulder and drawing a couple of warnings for rabbit punching.

Isaac Brekken/Associated Press

His fighting was still superior through six rounds, though, and Rappler.com's Ryan Songalia noted Ramirez countered well:

Abraham improved marginally after the halfway point, but HBO Boxing noted he was still well behind on punches through nine:

The accumulated punishment was etched into Abraham's face. By the late rounds, he needed a knockout to win, but Abraham still couldn't find the strength or will to throw the necessary haymakers. 

Yahoo Sports' Chris Mannix was disappointed in what he saw from the Armenian-born boxer:

When the final bell sounded, Abraham was resigned to his fate. The Las Vegas crowd roared in support of Ramirez, who can now parlay his world-champion status into bigger and better fights. 

Abraham is the best boxer Ramirez has faced up to this point in his career, and his dominant performance bodes well for his future. Bouts with the likes of WBC champion Badou Jack or perhaps American contender Anthony Dirrell could be on the horizon.

If Ramirez can apply the same in-ring smarts while adding in more of the power that got him to this point, he could have a successful and lucrative run as the champion.