Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff Writer December 10, 2023, 12:46 a.m. ET
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- MMA columnist for ESPN.com
- Analyst for “MMA Live”
- Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun
An unheralded Mexican featherweight contender named Rafael Espinoza shocked the boxing world on Saturday when he defeated two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez to capture the WBO championship.
Espinoza (22-0, 18 KOs) entered the fight with an unblemished professional record, despite having done most of his work against relatively unknown opponents in Mexico. Ramirez (13-2, 8 KOs) was a 15-1 betting favorite, and the fight took place in front of a very Ramirez-friendly crowd at the Dodge City Center near Miami. It was viewed as Ramirez's fight to lose.
Espinoza, 29, obviously didn't see it that way. The lanky featherweight threw nearly 1,000 punches over the course of 12 rounds in his first world title appearance and won a majority decision by scores of 115-111, 114-112 and 113-113.
Batting stats
| punches | Ramirez | Espinoza |
|---|---|---|
| Landed overall | 119 | 222 |
| Totally thrown | 376 | 995 |
| percent | 32% | 22% |
| Jabs landed | 18 | 43 |
| Jabs thrown | 79 | 355 |
| percent | 23% | 12% |
| The power has landed | 101 | 179 |
| force thrown | 297 | 640 |
| percent | 34% | 28% |
| – Courtesy of CompuBox | ||
The 12-round affair immediately qualified as a contender for Fight of the Year. Espinoza went down in the fifth round from a right hook to the chin, while Ramirez took his turn on the canvas in the 12th round after a barrage of punches. Although Espinoza hadn't fought past a third round in the last three years, it looked like he could have fought another twelve rounds at the end. Volume was his biggest weapon and he outscored Ramirez 103-33 over the final three rounds.
The battle took place in three chapters. Espinoza's length and volume frustrated Ramirez early, and Espinoza held a four-round lead on most scorecards. Everything turned in the final second of the fifth round when Ramirez knocked Espinoza to the ground with a short right hand strike. Espinoza narrowly survived the count and was saved by the bell once action resumed.
Ramirez, 29, from Cuba, injured Espinoza several more times in midfield. Espinoza's right leg also appeared to be compromised at one point after an awkward lower-body collision between the two competitors. In the eighth round it looked like normality had returned to the ring and Ramirez was in control, but then Espinoza somehow shifted gears.
According to Compubox, the courageous fighter from Guadalajara threw 995 punches to Ramirez's 376. Ramirez was far more consistent, with Espinoza landing just 222 to Ramirez's 119. But there was no doubt that the volume had taken its toll on the defending champion by the 12th round, and Ramirez was on a roll. Espinoza threw 120 punches in the 12th round alone.
Zayas performs well in the fifth round stoppage
It took Xander Zayas just five rounds to defeat 14-year veteran Jorge Fortea in front of an enthusiastic crowd – but for Fortea it probably felt much longer.
Zayas (18-0, 12 KOs) suffered a knockout stoppage at 1:37 of the fifth round after a devastating left hook to Fortea's body. The body shot mercifully ended the junior middleweight bout, which Zayas dominated from start to finish with vicious body combinations and powerful punches along the ropes. He landed 27 body shots on Fortea, two of which forced Fortea to kneel, once in the first and again in the fifth.
The 21-year-old Puerto Rican boxer's impressive performance sets up a Feb. 16 fight against Patrick Teixeira, ranked No. 2 by the WBO on the junior middleweight list.
“We knew he liked to keep his elbows out,” Zayas said of Fortea. “It was only a matter of time before we caught him in the first round. After that, he went into survival mode, so to speak. February 16, [Madison Square Garden]Patrick Teixeira, you’re next!”
In total, Zayas landed 285 punches and 144 for Fortea. By the third moment, both of Fortea's eyes were severely swollen. It was the Spanish fighter's first loss since his knockout against Anthony Fowler in March 2021.