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Rafael Espinoza says he is open to fighting WBO super featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete following his sixth-round TKO victory over Robeisy Ramirez in their rematch last Saturday night at the Footprint Center in Phoenix. Arizona.
Navarrete might be too big of a puncher for the lanky Rafael Espinoza if he were to move up to super featherweight to challenge him for his WBO title. The money would potentially be better for Espinoza than staying at 126, but it would be a risky fight.
Navarrete destroyed the completely outmatched Oscar Valdez (32-3, 24 KOs) in the sixth round of last night’s main event. He knocked down Valdez three times in the fight and scored a knockout with a body shot in the sixth round. was a 100% unnecessary revengeas Navarrete had already easily defeated Valdez last year, winning by unanimous decision in 12 rounds on August 12, 2023, in Glendale, Arizona. The fight was NOT competitive.
The decline of Robeisy
WBO featherweight champion Espinoza (26-0, 22 KOs) forced two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisy (14-3, 9 KOs) to quit in the sixth round when he caught him with a hard right hand to the tube. Robeisy immediately turned around and resigned. Espinoza showed his class by not giving him the belt at that moment, since being defenseless he would have been at the mercy of the 6’1” Mexican champion.
Ramírez, 30, stated that he had double vision in his right eye due to the elbows that Espinoza had caught on him starting in the fourth round. However, there was no swelling in that eye in that round or in the fifth. It wasn’t until the sixth round that Robeisy’s right eye swelled, and that occurred after Espinoza landed the right hand that forced him to quit. Ramirez’s eye visibly improved immediately after the fight and did not look good.
Former WBO 126-pound champion Ramirez lost his title to Espinoza in their first fight on December 9 of last year, losing a 12-round majority decision in a competitive fight. Ramírez was exhausted by the fast pace that Espinoza imposed on him in the second half and fell in the twelfth round of that contest.
With the defeat, Ramírez’s brief time as a first-level player The fighter may be finished. The Cuban Robeisy is a old look 30 years old, and nowhere near the same fighter he was when he captured two gold medals at the London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games.
Those medals were won by Robeisy at flyweight and bantamweight. Ramirez doesn’t seem cut out for the featherweight class, but it’s unlikely he can drop down to compete at 118 or 112 at his age. Is it time for Robeisy to retire? It could be. Either way, Top Rank has to consider whether to renew him when his contract ends.
Espinoza’s statement
“I think he was frustrated by the pressure. I know it was connecting and noticed it wasn’t causing me any harm. So mentally, I was strong and I think mentally I could do better than him as well. He was fatigued and was barely landing on me,” Rafael Espinoza said during the post-fight press conference, talking about Robeisy Ramírez. “He lost in that mental game.
“I could have fought someone else, but I wanted this fight,” Espinoza said of his rematch with Cuban Ramirez. “He could be a champion. That could happen.
“I want the best fights. “I want to unify and ascend.”
