Robeisy Ramirez says he will be at his best on Saturday in his rematch with Rafael Espinoza and will recapture his WBO featherweight title in their clash at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. This fight is about the Cuban Robeisy (14-2, 9 KOs) returning to where he is supposed to be at the top, holding the WBO belt, and facing the other champions at 126.
Can Espinoza Repeat?
Ramirez wasn’t supposed to lose to beatable 6’1″ Espinoza in their fight last year on December 9th, but he wasn’t in the best shape. The two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisy wasn’t 100% and faded down the stretch. In the 12th round, he took a knee due to fatigue while attacked by Espinoza.
The fatigue resulted in Robeisy losing by a 12-round majority decision by the scores:
– 113-113
– 114-112
– 115-111
Even with Ramirez not his best, he could have easily won by a fifth-round knockout because he’s dropped Espinoza. When the Mexican fighter got back up, he collapsed into the ropes. Normally, referees will stop a fight when a fighter is in that condition, but this referee allowed the contest to continue. Espinoza an accidental champion, and wouldn’t be in most cases.
The round ended before Robeisy could pounce on Espinoza to finish him. In both cases, it was luck on Espinoza’s part for him to make it out of the fifth. It was his good fortune, but he may not survive the rematch on Saturday night because Robeisy will be attacking him relentlessly as he did in the fifth. There may not be a referee who will save Espinoza this time.
“Back To Where I Belong”
“The reality is it wasn’t the best version of me, and I was still able to give a great show, and so the second fight will be better,” said Robeisy Ramirez to Sky Sports, talking about his fight against Rafael Espinoza last year on December 9th.
“I will go back to the place where I should be.” I didn’t see myself lose. In the last round he didn’t land a punch that put me in a bad position. I went down, if you see the replay, I went down from being tired,” Robeisy continued.
“Now I have to recover my title, and I will be ready to unify against any of the champions who are there. There’s no problem fighting any of them.”
