Fringe contender Rafael Espinoza (24-0, 20 KOs) pulled off a shocking upset, defeating heavily favorited WBO featherweight champion Robeisy Ramirez (13-2, 8 KOs) by a 12 round majority decision on Saturday night in the main event at the Charles F. Dodge City Center, in Pembroke Pines, Florida.
The scores were 113-113, 114-111, and 115-112 for Espinoza. Robeisy knocked Esinoza down in the fifth round with a right hook. However, Espinoza came back to outwork Robeisy in the majority of the rounds from that point on.
The tenth round was the turning point, as Espinoza turned up the gas on Robeisy, throwing nonstop shots and continued to do so in rounds eleven and twelve. Espinoza threw an unbelievable 121 punches in the 12th round to put Robeisy down.
It’s unclear if Top Rank had a rematch clause in the contract for this fight, as this was a voluntary defense for Robeisy against the #11 WBO-ranked Espinoza.
Still, the way the 6’1″ Espinoza fought tonight might not be a good idea for Robeisy to fight him again because he’s big enough and lacks the high work rate to beat a fighter like this.
Live boxing & undercard results will be shown below.
Undefeated junior middleweight contender Xander Zayas (18-0, 12 KOs) beat Jorge Fortea (24-4-1, 9 KOs) by a fifth round knockout. Zayas knocked down Fortea twice with hard punches to the body, once in the first and a final time in the fifth. The time of the stoppage was at 1:37. Fortea didn’t have much offense to keep Zayas honest in this fight, as oneway traffic the entire fight. If Fortea could punch, Zayas would have had to adopt the hit-and-run style he’d used in his recent bouts. The 21-year-old Zayas is ranked #2 WBO and is on the doorstep of challenging champion Tim Tszyu for his belt. It would be risky for Top Rank to put Zayas in with Tszyu at this time, as he would be getting hit back for a change, and it would be a different situation than the gimme-level opposition that he’d been fed thus far to create his 18-0 record. A good option for Zayas for his next fight would be Erickson Lubin, Sebastian ‘The Towering Inferno’ Fundora, or Josh Kelly.
In the performance of the night, featherweight Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (10-0, 6 KOs) destroyed Jason Sanchez (16-5, 9 KOs) by a highlight reel second round knockout. Carrington knocked down Sanchez two times. The contest was halted after second knockdown, a beautiful right-band bomb from Carrington. He looks like he’s ready for a step up in his next fight against one of the top contenders in his next fight.
Heavyweight prospect Richard Torrez Jr. (8-0, 8 KOs) had a tougher time than expected before stopping journeyman Curtis Harper (14-11, 9 KOs) in the eighth round. The 2020 U.S. Olympian Torrez unloaded on a storm of shots in the eighth round to get a referee stoppage. Before that, Torrez suffered a cut over his left eye. The time of the stoppage was at 2:03. The 24-year-old Torrez did not look good in the fight, as he was exhausted after the third round, and couldn’t do much with the 35-year-old Harper. Torrez was there for the taking, but Harper lacked the power and offense to take advantage of his fatigue. There were a lot of single shots thrown by Torrez, followed by holding and wrestling on his part. Moving forward, Top Rank will decide what they want to do with Torrez because he doesn’t have the size, stamina, or ability to hang top ten heavyweights in the division, especially if he keeps looking the way he did tonight. Torrez is a guy who can look good when matched against the right opposition, but Top Rank has dreams of him winning a world title one of these days; it’s not happening. Moving down to bridgerweight would be an excellent option for Torrez. He could potentially win a world title in that weight class. Harper fought well in the third round, nailing Torrez with several hard right hands to the head that took a lot of the aggressiveness out of the 2020 Olympian. After the third, Torrez’s power dropped off the cliff and looked tired.
Light middleweight Jahi Tucker (10-1-1, 5 KOs) fought to a disappointing eight round draw against Francisco Daniel Veron (13-0-1, 10 KOs). The scores were 77-75 for Tucker, 76-76, and 76-76.
Unbeaten light welterweight Rohan Polanco (11-0, 7 KOs) defeated Keith Hunter (15-2, 9 KOs) by a sixth round knockout. Polanco hurt Hunter with a right hand in the sixth and then flurried on him until the referee stepped in and halted the contest. Hunter reacted in anger at the stoppage, shoving the referee. He was still fighting back at the time of the stoppage, but he looked hurt.
Light welterweight prospect Tiger Johnson (11-0, 5 KOs) edged Jimmer Espinosa (15-2, 14 KOs), winning an eight round split decision. The judges scored it 78-74, 79-73 for the U.S Olympian Tiger, and 77-75 for Espinoza.
Undefeated heavyweight Damian Knyba (13-0, 7 KOs) defeated Michael Coffie (13-5, 10 KOs) by an eight round unanimous decision. The scores were 79-73, 80-72, and 80-72.
Former Shakur Stevenson conqueror Robeisy Ramirez defends his WBO super featherweight title against his obscure opponent, Rafael Espinoza, tonight on ESPN. The talented Cuban Robeisy (13-1, 8 KOs) could emerge as one of the biggest stars at 126 next year with big fights ahead of him if he’s victorious tonight.
Junior middleweight Xander Zayas (17-0, 11 KO) takes on Jorge Fortea (24-3-1, 9 KO) in a ten round contest in tonight’s co-feature bout
In the main event, two-time Cuban Olympic gold medalist Robeisy (13-1, 8 KOs) faces #11 WBO Espinoza (21-0, 18 KOs) at the Charles F. Dodge City Center in Pembroke Pines, Florida. The Robeisy vs. Espinoza event will be shown on ESPN and ESPN+ at 10 pm ET.
Robeisy captured his WBO 126-lb belt last April, beating former super bantamweight champion Isaac Dogboe by a twelve round decision. In first title defense, Robeisy stopped Satoshi Shimizu in the fifth round last July.
This is a fight where Robeisy cannot afford to fight at half speed like he did in his loss to Adan Gonzales in his pro debut in 2019. The 6’1″ Espinoza will have a huge eight-inch height advantage over Robeisy tonight, and he’ll be trying to use his size to pound away against the champion.
Tonight’s fight will be Robeisy’s third in 2023, making him one of the rare champions in the sport that is fighting three times in a year.
The likely rationale for Top Rank in keeping Robeisy busy is they want to turn him into a star quickly, and they won’t be able to do that if he fights on an annual basis like many of the less ambitious champions.
Robeisy’s age is another reason he’s being kept busy. He’s 29 now, and that’s not young for the lower weight classes. He’s clearly lost hand & foot speed since his amateur days.
You can see the difference in speed from Robeisy’s performance against Shakur Stevenson in the 2016 Olympic final compared to now. He’s a lot slower now and looks nothing like the guy who schooled Shakur.
Robeisy had Shakur looking like he didn’t know if he was coming or going. He was confused & helpless against the talented Cuban in that fight, crying like crazy afterward.
If you took that version of Robeisy and threw him in with anyone from 126 to 140, he’d win. Unfortunately, he’s slowed down so much that he’d have massive problems against the killers at 130, 135 & 140.
That said, Robeisy is still highly technical and has a lot of tools in his arsenal that set him ahead of the other featherweights in the division, but he’s definitely got to stay busy. If he keeps losing speed at the same rate he’s been since 2016, he’ll be out of the sport soon.
Once Robeisy gets Espinoza out of the way, he’s got some big fights available to him in 2024 against Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue and a unification clash against IBF featherweight champion Luis Alberto Lopez.
Inoue is fighting Marlon Tapales next on December 26th for the super bantamweight undisputed championship, and then he’s expected to vacate and come up to 126 to challenge Robeisy for his WBO belt.