Being undefeated made Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez feel as though he couldn’t be beat. Wins over Sullivan Barrera and Jesse Hart reinforced those thoughts. But after grabbing a world title at 168 pounds and making a handful of defenses, Zurdo saw an opportunity at 175 pounds. Turns out, however, it was nothing more than a mirage.

Not only did Zurdo look comfortable in the light heavyweight division, he looked powerful, stopping every opponent he faced. Five straight wins set him up perfectly for a showdown against Dmitry Bivol. Zurdo promised to shut him down and strip him of his WBA title. Ultimately, he failed miserably.

Outside of a few sporadic moments, Zurdo was dominated. The first loss of his career had a snowball effect. Initially, the 32-year-old was supposed to face Gabe Rosado in a get-right fight. But, the former 168-pound champ jumped onto the scales considerably overweight.

Just like that, Zurdo’s time in the light heavyweight division was essentially over. This past weekend, the Mexican native formally made his cruiserweight debut, outpointing Joe Smith Jr. over 10 rounds.

Once seemingly out of options, Zurdo has a ton of them now. Any of the cruiserweight title holders will placate him. So would a matchup against Canelo Alvarez. They're all great choices but if the decision were his and his alone, Zurdo would pick up the phone and give Bivol a call. It wasn’t just that he took his undefeated record. Bivol, according to Zurdo, took a lot more than just that.

“Of course,” said Zurdo to a group of reporters when asked if he wants a rematch with Bivol. “He hurt my ego, my soul. I want the rematch. I want to beat him.”

Perfect scenarios simply don’t exist in the world of boxing. Meaning, a rematch against Bivol isn’t exactly likely. The pound-for-pound star hasn’t fought this entire year and doesn’t have a fight lined up in the immediate future.

With Bivol’s status unknown, Zurdo doesn't want to spend too much time hunting him down. Instead, with his career back on track, Zurdo would rather work on his craft and continue to improve.

“I don’t need to look back. I need to look forward. I’m stronger, this is a new beginning.”