Boxing Recap: Jose Ramirez World Champion, Estrada GBP debut and KOs
#AndNew Ramirez wins
The pride of Central California, Jose Ramirez of Avenal, Ca, can now add world champion next to his name as the socially conscious fighter defeated Amir Imam to become the WBC super lightweight champion at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York as well broadcast worldwide on ESPN and promoted by Top Rank Inc. The fight was not easy by any stretch as Imam caught Ramirez in the first round with an uppercut that seemed to effect Ramirez at first and in the third round it appeared Ramirez landed a flush right that didn’t break Imam. In short, both fighters gave their best in the early goings and took it.
It was a fight that was extremely close through six rounds but came down to hunger, something that Ramirez had more of and refused to give up on himself or the people of Fresno, Avenal and the whole Central Valley. Ramirez will now defend the title more than likely July at Chukchansi Park, the home of the Fresno Grizzlies (a minor league baseball team), in downtown Fresno, CA.
The opponent is uncertain, but it appears that three names could come to the forefront with undefeated Top Rank super lightweight Alex Saucedo being at the top of the list as well as former world champion Mike Alvarado also being in consideration potentially.
WBC interim super lightweight champion Regis Prograis might end up on the card as well, but Prograis doesn’t seem happy to fight on an undercard of Jose Ramirez and wants to fight him as soon as possible and though I don’t see it happening next, Prograis also could land the fight if everything falls into place perfectly for him.
Congrats to @mickconlan11 on making #stpatricksday a great one with the stoppage last night #ireland? #irish #boxingnews #boxing #knockout #eatsleepboxingrepeat pic.twitter.com/maxMpUSx5Y
— EatSleepBoxingRepeat (@ESBrepeat) March 18, 2018
Conlan impresses
Michael Conlan put on a terrific performance after changing coaches and heading back across the pond and training with Adam Booth. The top Irish Olympian dropped his foe in the first round and then finished the job in the second round. Conlan, who went after Ramirez sent the card happened on St. Patrick’s Day, is a star in the making based off his Irish fan base and though he is fighting overmatched foes, he looked much better in this outing as he is still far from fighting someone with a pulse just yet, but is doing what is needed of him in the early going of his career..
Still not enthused on The Nail
Oleksandr “The Nail” Gvozdyk earned every penny when fighting Mehdi Amari for the interim WBC light heavyweight title with the actual belt being held by Adonis Stevenson currently. Gvozdyk has failed to really gather momentum for me despite the impressive power and good technique, I think part of the problem is it feels like his foot speed is about below average and that he has been dropped by Tommy Karpency. Gvozdyk is a world-class fighter, but in a division with Kovalev, Bivol, and Beterbiev he has failed to move the needle just yet to make his mark in the division.
Antonio Lozada Jr stops Felix Verdejo in the 10th and final round. Upset! pic.twitter.com/76ZKIobCsy
— Bible of Boxing (@ringmagazine) March 17, 2018
Verdejo loses
Felix Verdejo might be one of the greatest “what-ifs” in boxing. The Puerto Rican star boxer in the making was stopped by largely unknown Antonio Lozado Jr. in the last 30 seconds of the final round. Verdejo was viewed as a fighter that could transcend boxing and would be the next major star of the sport as a lot of money was invested in him. Despite being up on the scorecard, Verdejo could not make it out of the fight as simply was defenseless with 30 seconds left in the fight, the doctor stopped the bout. Even worse, despite the fact that Lozado was losing on the cards I had Lozado winning every round after the third as he essentially dominated Verdejo.
Verdejo, a former number one contender to the WBO lightweight title, will now go into a rebuild, but it is hard to not compare him to someone like Thomas Dulorme, a talented fighter, whose value was relegated after a knockout loss.
For Lozado, the fighter now will get an opportunity to fight some of the best fighters in the world as he just got a life-changing win against one of the highly touted boxing prospects of the past few years.
Diaz, Pedraza, Adorno, and Gonzalez
Christopher “Pitufo” Diaz found himself in an awkward fight with Braulio Rodriguez, who gave him fits with his awkward style and length, but an injury to Braulio Rodriguez stopped the bout. Rodriguez hurt his arm in the fourth round and the bout was halted. In defense of Diaz, Rodriguez is the type of opponent that no one will look good against.
Jose Pedraza didn’t wow the crowd, but he didn’t lose either. Pedraza landed the better shots in his undercard bout but also got hit cleanly a lot when he backed up straight with his hands down. Pedraza picked up an eight-round decision, he might end up in a fight with Ray Beltran.
Lightweight Joseph Adorno really impressed me with a first-round knockout that injured his opponent’s leg with the force of his left hook. A very impressive young fighter signed to Top Rank, who is going to spend time training in Riverside, CA with Robert Garcia.
Jose “Chocolatito” Gonzalez had the unenviable spot of going on after the televised portion of the card as he redeemed his draw with Adan Gonzales getting a six-round decision as he hopes to move forward with his career.
“Super Bad” Estrada set for ESPN
Women’s flyweight Seniesa Estrada made her debut as a signed fighter to Golden Boy Promotions headlining LA Fight Club. Estrada, who won every round of the eight-round bout didn’t demonstrate power, but showed lots of flash reminding someone I watched the bout of Roy Jones Jr. minus the power. Estrada is a compelling fighter in the women’s division, who still needs development, but is fun and intriguing to watch.
Off TV undercard – Golden Boy
Oscar Duarte got a fifth-round KO in the co-main event dropping his opponent in the fourth and ending the bout with a body shot in the fifth.
Lightweight Jousce Gonzalez is now 7-0 with seven knockouts. What makes this feat more impressive is that Gonzalez has yet to see round two in any of his bouts as he has won every fight in the first round
Antonio Orozco fought an opponent he had fought four years prior. It was a hidden off-television fight for the undefeated junior welterweight who had not even bothered to show up to the weigh-in for his HBO debut against Roberto Ortiz.
Edgar Valerio picked up a first-round TKO that had some confusion as the bout was stopped as Valerio’s opponent appeared to hit his head on a camera when getting knocked down by a left hook.
Blair Cobbs fought Mario Esparza to a technical draw in the first bout of the evening. Cobbs was making his debut with the promotional company. The bout was stopped in the fourth, because of a headbutt
Roberto Arriaza highlight reel KOs Sammy Valentin
In a bout we suspected could be a good one was about as one-sided as a professional boxing bout could be. Arriaza needed only 30 seconds to KO Sammy Valentin in the very first round. Previously, Valentin was ranked #12 in the WBO in the welterweight division.
This win will move Arriaza into contention.
Star Boxing results
Courtney Pennington and Steven Martinez had a hard-fought eight round bout that saw Pennington edge it 77-75 in all three cards. The bout was very competitive.
Danny Gonzalez picked up a TKO and had the most impressive showing on the card.
In a surprise, Angel Suarez upset former prospect Titus Williams with a unanimous decision win. Williams, a former prospect, who lost to Chris Colbert in his last bout at the Barclays Center now is on a two-fight losing streak.
Michael Dutchover
Super featherweight Michael Dutchover picked up a win headlining a private event from DoubleTree in Ontario, CA, as he headlined his first card and picked up a six round decision win over Ricardo Lopez, who was previously unbeaten. Dutchover, a Thompson Boxing prospect is showing a promising a future if he continues to develop.
Matty Askin body shot KO
Matty Askin picked up a knockout win with this classy body shot in the second round over Stephen Simmons. This is one of the better body shot knockouts of the year, Askin is trying to fight himself into a bout at cruiserweight against one of the fighters on the losing end of the stick from the World Boxing Super Series tournament.
@JoeJoyce_1 how many seconds again! Man went down in under a minute!!!! pic.twitter.com/3EkOVhgyT7
— Carla Mitchell (@dizzymitchell) March 17, 2018
Joe Joyce is fun
Big Joe Joyce got a 30 second knockout against a largely unknown foe in the type of fight that brings excitement to casual fans and is what a lot of people come to see boxing for. Joyce is an enjoyable and colorful U.K. personality in the heavyweight division. Joyce could face fellow U.K. heavyweight Daniel Dubois down the road and I wouldn’t be mad either.
?✊Aguante mi gente ?✊Punta de Rieles Presente? pic.twitter.com/xVH0bpkQMm
— Rudy Macedo (@RudyMacedo) March 18, 2018
Rudy Macedo wins
Welterweight Rudy Macedo gets a win in Mexico over the weekend, the amateur standout improves to 6-0 as a professional. The knockout is above.
Giovanni Mioletti gets KO win
Giovanni Mioletti of Chicago, Illinois stopped Ray Lampkin Jr via second-round knockout in Washington in the main event of “Battle at The Boat”, a card put together by Andy Nance.
Mioletti’s strength was on display as well as Lampkin Jr.’s overeagerness to want to brawl and exchange which lead to his demise in this bout. Mioletti was very confident in his abilities as despite fighting an undefeated fighter already had another fight lined up.
TJ Doheny, O’Connor win
Super bantamweight T.J. Doheny picked up a fantastic 2nd round knockout on St. Patrick’s Day. Doheny, who has Sean Gibbons, one of the most powerful people in all of the boxing world behind him, it seems as though Doheny will be getting a title shot within the year.
Danny O’Connor also picked up a unanimous decision over road warrior Steve Claggett in the main event. O’Connor is trying to break through to the next level of boxing to see bigger paydays.
Diaz highlight reel KO
Adelaida Ruiz, who has picked up wins over Bay Area fighters Beki Light and Dalia Gomez, picked up a highlight reel KO over Brenda Enriquez in Commerce, CA. You can see the KO via veteran LA boxing scribes Instagram video above.
Might be over for Soliman
Former world champion Sam Soliman fought to a majority draw in Australia over the weekend against Wes Capper. It feels as though it might just be over as Soliman was in with a fighter who is more than likely not going to fight for a belt. To put it bluntly, Soliman just isn’t the same fighter anymore.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgebZ_dnsWs/?tagged=cristianmijares
Mijares Farewell
Cristian Mijares retires in style with an eight-round stoppage David Saucedo. Mijares, a former WBC, IBF and WBA super flyweight world champion spent the latter half of his career fighting much bigger men in bouts he was destined to lose. It was nice to see the champion retire in style with a 20 punch flurry that leads to the stoppage.
