Voltar
CHANDLER, Arizona – Something fishy cost Jesus Ramos Jnr a chance to defend his WBC interim middleweight title last month.
What happened afterward might also feel a little rotten to him.
ProBox TV Fight Night Review! Chris Algieri and Robert Garcia break down all the action from Phoenix, Arizona. Kevin Anton delivers a dominant performance against Freudis Rojas, Justin Pauldo continues his rise in the lightweight division, and Carlos Orona makes a statement with a stoppage victory over Bryan Acosta. Join Chris Algieri and Robert Garcia as they review the entire ProBox TV Championship Series card, analyzing the performances, key moments and what comes next for the fighters.
3
1d ago
Instead of holding Ramos’ place in line for a title shot in victory at full champion Carlos Adames, the WBC last week greeted Adames’ move to Zuffa Boxing by ruling he can take a non-title 165lbs fight for his Zuffa debut, and then meet top-ranked contender Meiirim Nursaltanov after that.
Ramos, 24-1 (19 KOs), was supposed to fight Nursaltanov September 19 in the co-main event to Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz’s main-event bout on DAZN. The winner was to fight Adames.
But Ramos, 25, said he fell ill after eating salmon the day before the weigh-in, withdrawing from the bout.
“The day before at a soccer game, my nutritionist gave me tuna. So I guess it was either the tuna or the salmon,” Ramos told BoxingScene Friday as he watched the ProBoxTV card from ringside.
“I was a little off and as the day progressed through my workout, I started feeling a little sick and throwing up – it was bad. I knew it wasn’t enough time to recover for the fight. With the weight cut and feeling how I was feeling, we didn’t want to risk nothing going into the fight.”
Ramos, 25, said he learned from a hand injury suffered weeks before he lost to Erickson Lubin in 2023 not to step into the ring less than 100 percent.
“I made a promise to myself after the Lubin [loss] … I’m proud of my team. It was a hard decision, but it was the right decision,” Ramos said of withdrawing.
Yet, when told of the WBC’s revised middleweight-title schedule, Ramos was caught off guard, saying, “We’ll look into it. That’s the first I’m hearing of it.”
BoxingScene has learned Adames is being pointed to a November card in Saudi Arabia for the 165lbs non-title fight.
Ramos, meanwhile, is targeted for the December 5 Premier Boxing Champions card on DAZN headlined in his home state of Arizona by the state’s three-division and unified cruiserweight champion David Benavidez.
Unbeaten WBC interim junior-middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jnr of Texas is also pegged for that card in an expected middleweight bout against former welterweight champion Keith Thurman.
WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman told BoxingScene Tuesday that Ramos will have the right to defend his interim belt in his next bout.
Sulaiman said if Adames loses in November, the middleweight belt goes vacant. Should Adames win, the winner of his bout against Nursaltanov must fight Ramos next – as long as he retains the interim belt December 5.
“We wanted Vergil, but I don’t know … I’m sure it’s tough for him to come to Phoenix … so nothing yet. But I’m more than ready,” Ramos said.
Lance Pugmire has been a full-time boxing writer for nearly 20 years, serving now as BoxingScene’s U.S. Senior Writer and assistant producer for ProBoxTV’s “BoxingScene Today.” Pugmire capped a near 20-year career at the Los Angeles Times (sports investigations, NHL/MLB beat work, law enforcement/courts and boxing/UFC) to join The Athletic, and then USA Today. Pugmire’s stint at The Times started with the first Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez fight and the Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jnr then-record pay-per-view, leading through a slew of ringside assignments at major bouts, including Mayweather-Pacquiao, Mayweather-Canelo and the Canelo-Golovkin trilogy. Lance’s appreciation for boxing is rooted in his admiration and appreciation for the fighters, gladiators who have proven to be the most forthcoming and candid of all the athletes he has interviewed over a career dating to 1990. Lance was honored to be named the 2022 winner of the Boxing Writers Association of America Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence and he’s collected many BWAA writing awards in categories ranging from breaking news to deep-dive long features.