Robeisi Ramirez says he will be at his best in Saturday’s rematch against Rafael Espinoza and reclaim the WBO featherweight title when they clash at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. This fight sees Cuba’s Robeisi (14-2, 9 KOs) back where he should be at the top, holding the WBO belt and facing other champions at 126.
Can Espinoza do it again?
Ramirez wasn’t supposed to lose to the beatable 6’1″ Espinosa in their fight last year on December 9th, but he wasn’t in the best shape. Two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisi was not 100% and faded in the series. In the 12th round, he succumbed to fatigue while being attacked by Espinoza.
Fatigue resulted in Robeisi losing a 12-round majority decision by the score of:
– 113-113
– 114-112
– 115-111
Even with Ramirez not at his best, he could easily win by knockout in the fifth round because he lost Espinoza. When the Mexican fighter came back, he crashed into the ropes. Normally, referees will stop a fight when a fighter is in that state, but this referee allowed the contest to continue. Espinoza is an accidental champion, and wouldn’t be in most cases.
The round ended before Robeisi was able to throw himself at Espinoza to finish him off. In both cases, Espinoza was lucky to make it to fifth place. It was his luck, but he may not survive the second leg on Saturday night as the Robeys will attack him as relentlessly as they did in the fifth. There may not be a referee to save Espinoza this time.
“Back Where I Belong”
“The reality is that it wasn’t the best version of me and I was still able to put on a great show, so the second fight will be better,” Robizzy Ramirez said. Ski Sportstalking about his fight against Rafael Espinosa last year on December 9th.
“I’ll get back to where I’m supposed to be.” I didn’t see that I lost. He didn’t throw a punch in the last round that put me in a bad position. I fell, if you see the replay, I fell from fatigue,” Robeisi continued.
“Now I have to get the title back and I will be ready to unite against any champion that is out there.” There is no problem fighting any of them.”
