Jesse Hart: I can show my greatness through Ramirez in rematch

Jesse Hart gets a second shot tonight at WBO super middleweight champon Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (38-0, 25 KO), following his Sept. 2017 loss in what was a very competitive bout.

The fight airs tonight at 10 pm ET on ESPN+.

In a sit-down with ESPN’s Mark Kriegel, Hart (25-1, 21 KO) explained why he thinks he can win the rematch.

“I think (the first fight was) the best he has to offer, and that’s no disrespect,” Hart said. “I think I can exceed that level. I learned that I had the heart of a giant. That was always a question of mine. When he’s gotta face adversity, when the chips are down, how can he prevail in the actual fight? I was down in the second round. I got up. I kept fighting, and I kept heart, and I proved to the doubters that I am a real fighter.

“Getting another shot at ‘Zurdo’ will be, like — I can show the people my greatness through him. He can bring the best out of me, and that will cause me to be a great Philadelphia fighter, and that will cause me at the same time to be a world champion. And I believe that he’s the only guy that can do it.”

Hart indeed gave Ramirez a hell of a battle after getting off the canvas, when it looked like he was on bad legs and vulnerable to be finished off by the Mexican titleholder. In the end, Ramirez won on scores of 114-113, 115-112, and 115-112, which were fair.

Tonight, Hart hopes to turn it around on Ramirez and leave the champion, which would almost surely set up a trilogy bout in 2019, as the two are both Top Rank fighters and it’s an easy matchup to make. But that’s looking ahead — Hart has to take care of business tonight first, and Ramirez is a lot to deal with to be sure.