Rafael Espinosa defeated Cuban phenom Robeisy Ramirez to win the WBO featherweight world title in dramatic fashion.
In a hard-fought 12-round bout, Mexico’s Espinoza rose from the canvas in the fifth round and knocked Ramirez down in the final round to win a narrow majority decision.
He will make his first title defense against Mexican rival Sergio Chirino Sanchez in Las Vegas. Sky Sports Action 2am on a Saturday morning.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum expects the world title fight to be action-packed.
“at first, [Espinoza] “He had a great record in Mexico, he was known as the knockout guy, he was a crowd-pleasing fighter, and we put him against Robbie Ramirez, thinking it would be a good test for Ramirez, but lo and behold, Espinoza won,” Arum said. Sky Sports.
“He’s one of those gems of a fighter and will be hard to beat.”
Aram feels a new star may be on the way.
“That’s what we’ll see on Saturday. He’s going up against a very tough Mexican. I’ve heard they sparred together before and had a tough fight,” he revealed.
“Those types of fighters and those types of fights are what create stars.”
Ramirez will compete again the following weekend on the undercard of Teofimo Lopez, which will also be televised live. Sky Sports Next Saturday.
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U.S. Olympian Troy Eisley faced off against Marcos Hernandez at Turning Stone Resort Casino and emerged victorious.
The first fight between Ramirez and Espinoza was so good that Arum expects the winner to fight a second time before moving on to the featherweight title unification bout.
“I’d love to fight Robbie Ramirez again. It was an upset and if he does it again — Robbie is one of the best amateur fighters of all time, a two-time Olympic gold medal winner — I think he could accomplish something really big,” he said.
“We have a lot of really good featherweight fighters, so we could set up some interesting fights for him.”
On the Fontainebleau Las Vegas undercard, unbeaten prospects Andres Cortez and Troy Isley both face big challenges.
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Troy Isley delivers a power punch
Cortez will face former world title challenger Abraham Nova, while Eisley will face fellow unbeaten middleweight Javier Martinez.
“They’re in a tough spot. Let’s not mess around with trying to build up a record. They’re in a very tough spot. That’s the way it should be and that’s why they’ve risen from the bottom to the top,” Arum said.
“Cortez, a local guy from Las Vegas, will be facing Nova, who has been in the main event many times before. This is a huge step up for Cortez. And then Eisley will be facing our other fighter, Javier Martinez, which will also be a really great fight. I’ve heard they were rivals in their amateur days.”
“So it’s going to be a very, very fun, good card.”
Watch Espinoza vs Sanchez live on Saturday from 2am on Sky Sports Action
