Rafael Espinoza says he is open to fighting WBO super featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete after his sixth-round technical victory over Robeisy Ramirez in their rematch Saturday night at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
Navarrete could be too big of a puncher for the scrappy Rafael Espinoza to handle if he were to move up to super featherweight to challenge him for his WBO title. The money might be better for Espinoza than staying at 126, but it would be a risky fight.
Navarrete destroyed a completely outmatched Oscar Valdez (32-3, 24 KOs) in the sixth round in last night’s main event. He dropped Valdez three times in the fight and scored a body knockout in the sixth round. It was one 100% pointless revengeas Navarrete had already easily beaten Valdez last year, winning a 12-round unanimous decision 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 right hand sharp straight in the pipe. Robeisy immediately turned and left. Espinoza showed his class without the belt for the time being, as he was defenseless he would have been at the mercy of a 6’1″ Mexican champion.
Ramirez, 30, said he had double vision in his right eye from the elbows Espinoza took early in the fourth round. However, there was no swelling in that eye in that round or fifth. It wasn’t until the sixth round that Robeisy’s right eye swelled up, and that came after the right hand Espinoza landed that forced him to retire. Ramirez’s eye hurt visibly immediately after the fight and it didn’t look good.
Former WBO 126lb champion Ramirez lost his title to Espinoza in his first fight on December 9 last year, losing a 12-round majority decision in a competitive contest. Ramirez reeled from the fast pace Espinoza put on him in the second half and was dropped in the 12th round of that contest.
With the loss, the short time of Ramirez as a high level The fighter may be finished. The Cuban Robeisy is a old woman 30 years, and nowhere near the same fighter, was when he took two gold medals in the Olympics in London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016.
Those medals were won in flyweight and bantamweight for Robeisy. Ramirez doesn’t seem cut for the featherweight weight class, but it’s unlikely he could trim down to compete at 118 or 112 at his age. Is it time for Robeisy to retire? It could be. However, Top Rank will consider whether to re-sign him when his contract expires.
Espinoza’s statement
“I think he was frustrated by the pressure. We knew he was connected, and he noticed that he wasn’t causing me any damage. So, mentally, I was strong, and I thought I could do better than him mentally as well. He was tired, and he just landed on me,” said Rafael Espinoza during the post-fight press conference, talking about Robeisy Ramirez. “He lost in that mind game.
“I could have fought someone else, but I wanted this fight,” Espinoza said about his rematch with the Cuban Ramirez. “He could be a champion. That could happen.
“I want the best fights. I want to unify and move forward.”
