On December 9th, Top Rank and ESPN will head to the Charles F. Dodge City Center in Pembroke Pines, Florida, as the Cuban WBO featherweight champion, Robeisy "El Tren" Ramirez, will look to make his third world title defense against Rafael "El Divino" Espinoza. The elephant in the room is that Teofimo Lopez who traditionally fights on this date in New York City, is not fighting giving credence to the fact that Lopez might be aiming to land a 'super-fight' in early 2024.
Ramirez, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, won the world title against Isaac Dogboe and recently defeated Satoshi Shimizu in Japan.
Espinoza, on the other hand, brings a remarkable record of twenty-one wins, with eighteen by way of knockout, and a seven-inch height advantage over Ramirez.
In the co-feature, we will see Puerto Rican sensation Xander Zayas a Flordia native taking on Spain's Jorge Fortea in a ten-round junior middleweight bout. Zayas is a top contender with hopes of landing a world title shot soon. Fortea held a regional bout prior and looks to be a stern test in the development of Zayas' career.
The rest of the undercard will be on ESPN+ and is the following:
Featherweight Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington will face former world title challenger Jason Sanchez in ten-round fight, junior midldeweight Jahi Tucker will look to rebound from his first career loss as he is in an eight-rounder against unbeaten Argentinian Francisco Daniel Veron, Dominican Olympian Rohan Polanco faces Keith Hunter in an eight-round junior welterweight tilt.
2021 U.S. Olympian Tiger Johnson makes his fourth appearance of 2023 in an eight-round junior welterweight fight against Mexico’s Jimmer Espinosa, and opening up the card is heavyweight prospect Damian “Polish Hussar” Knyba known 86-inch reach, takes on Scott Alexander in an eight-rounder.
