Robeisy Ramirez Defends Against Rafael Espinoza & Xander Zayas Vs. Jorge Fortea On December 9 On ESPN – SolSportHQ
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By Dan Ambrose: WBO featherweight champion Robeisy Ramirez will defend against #11 fringe contender Rafael Espinoza in the main event, and junior middleweight contender Xander Zayas (17-0, 11 KOs) will face Jorge Fortea (24-3-1, 9 KOs) in a ten round in the co-feature slot on December 9th at Charles F. Dodge City Center in Pembroke Pines, Florida.
Robeisy will need to deal with the 6’1″ height of the little-known unbeaten Espinoza, which should make the fight enjoyable for a while. Apart from that, this fight is a mismatch. Espinoza has fought NO one, and he’ll be cutting his teeth for the first time in the pro ranks against his first top-tier opponent.
Why it’s taken ten years for Espinoza to fight a top-level opponent is the big question, but it could be a management thing. When you have a fighter who has been spinning his wheels in the professional ranks for a decade without ever fighting on top 15-level opponents, it’s surprising. How does that happen?
It’s a courageous move on Top Rank’s part, putting this card on the same night as the Devin Haney vs. Regis Prograis event, which will take place on DAZN PPV. There’s also a possibility of Showtime putting on a PPV event on the same evening, which further split the audience.
The Robeisy vs. Espinoza event will be shown live at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+.
Top Rank needs to set Robeisy up with fights against the other champions in the 126-lb division or, better yet, match him against Emanuel Navarrete in an in-house fight.
If they’re going to turn Robeisy into a star, they’ve got to start matching him against better opposition because he’s wasting his career fighting guys like Rafael Espinzoza, Satoshi Shimizu, and Jose Matias Romero.
The southpaw Robeisy has the talent to become a big name if Top Rank starts putting him in against high-caliber opposition, but they can’t afford to wait until he’s 36 years old like we saw with Terence Crawford before that happens.
“[Robeisy] Ramirez has his hands full against an undefeated challenger [Rafael Espinoza] who will not be deterred by the moment,” said Bob Arum of Top Rank.
It’s unclear whether the 29-year-old Rafael Espinoza (21-0, 18 KOs) was the best opponent that Top Rank could dig up for the two-time Cuban Olympic gold medalist Robeisy (13-1, 8 KOs) to fight on December 9th or if this was done on purpose to have an unbeaten opponent with a glittering record?
It’s nice to have a guy with an undefeated record, but it’s useless when their resume is filled with obscure fodder-level opposition, like in the case of Espinoza. He’s glided through his entire ten-year professional career without fighting anyone recognizable.
Espinoza’s last seven opponents:
Ally Mwerangi
Rafael Rosas Ramirez
Gerardo Valenzuela Munoz
Alie Laurel
Aramis Solis
Carlos Ornelas
Luis Guzman Rios
In the co-feature, junior middleweight contender Xander Zayas will take on 32-year-old Jorge Fortea. This is another gimme for the 21-year-old Zayas, who is fighting more defensively now since getting lit up by Ronald Cruz and Alexis Salazar.
Zayas has changed his fighting style and now is focused on throwing potshots in a hit-and-run fashion. He’s fighting more like Shakur Stevenson, using the pull-back method, which is not entertaining to watch, but it’s probably the only style that will work for him.
Zayas’ punch resistance isn’t good enough to be a brawler like Miguel Cotto. As such, he’s been forced to adopt the Shakur Stevenson style. Zayas will need to wait until Tim Tszyu moves up to 160 before he fights for a world title because he would be at great risk of getting knocked out if he fought him.
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