Robeisy Ramírez


Robeisy Eloy Ramírez Carrazana is a Cuban professional boxer who held the World Boxing Organization featherweight title in 2023. As an amateur, Ramírez won gold medals at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.

Amateur career

Highlights

Summer Olympic results
London 2012
Rio 2016
Summer Youth Olympics results
Singapore 2010
  • Preliminaries: Defeated Stan Nicette 17–3
  • Semi-finals: Defeated Dawid Michelus 3–1
  • Final: Shiva Thapa 5–2
Pan American Games results
Guadalajara 2011
  • Quarter-finals: Defeated John Franklin RSC 3
  • Semi-finals: Defeated Braulio Ávila 20–7
  • Final: Defeated Dagoberto Aguero 24–10

Defection

In July 2018, Ramírez left a Cuban National Team training camp in Aguascalientes, Mexico. The Cuban National Sports Institute stated on its official website that Ramírez was "turning his back" on the team and that "Attitudes like this are far from our values and the discipline that characterises our sport". It was thought that Ramírez had defected from Cuba to become professional, following the likes of Guillermo Rigondeaux, Luiz Ortiz, Yuriorkis Gamboa and Erislandy Lara who had also defected from Cuba to become professional.

Professional career

Early career

On 24 May 2019, Ramírez signed a contract to fight professionally with Top Rank. His promoter Bob Arum stated "The last two-time gold medalist that we signed out of the amateurs, Vasyl Lomachenko, has become a big star. We anticipate the same from Robeisy".
On 10 August 2019, he made his professional debut against the little-known American, Adan Gonzales. Ramírez suffered a shock split decision defeat in which he was knocked down by a left hook inside the first minute of the opening round. His second professional fight was against Fernando Ibarra De Anda on 9 November 2019. Ramírez dominated his opponent throughout the bout and, in the final round, landed a body shot which forced Ibarra to take a knee in a neutral corner. This prompted the referee, Gerard White to end the bout immediately.
On 21 February 2020, Ramírez fought against Rafael Morales. Ramírez dominated throughout the bout and secured victory via fourth round knockout. On 9 June 2020, Ramírez defeated Yeuri Andujar via knockout in the first round. Ramírez knocked his opponent down with a left uppercut in the opening moments of the bout. Andujar managed to recover from the knockdown, however Ramírez swiftly hit his opponent with another left hand which put Andujar on the canvas for a second time in the bout. This caused referee Tony Weeks to end the bout instantly.
On 2 July 2020, Ramírez looked to avenge his only defeat as a professional when he fought against Adan Gonzales for a second time. Ramírez controlled the bout from the outset, and secured a dominant victory after winning every round on each of the three scorecards. On 19 September 2020, Ramírez faced Felix Caraballo. Ramírez won via wide unanimous decision after outboxing his opponent throughout the duration of the bout. Ramírez fought against Brandon Valdes in what would be his fifth bout in less than a year on 12 December 2020. Ramírez secured victory in the sixth round after trapping his opponent against the ropes and unloading a barrage of unanswered punches which forced the referee to end the bout.
Ramírez faced Ryan Lee Allen on the undercard of José Ramírez vs. Josh Taylor on 22 May 2021. In the second round, Ramírez landed a straight left hand which put his opponent on the canvas. Despite Allen recovering from the knockdown, Ramírez proceeded to control the remainder of the bout and won via unanimous decision. On 9 October 2021, Ramírez fought on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder III, in a bout against Orlando Gonzalez Ruiz. Ramírez won via unanimous decision after hurting his opponent on multiple occasions during the fight.
Ramírez fought against Eric Donovan on the undercard of Josh Taylor vs. Jack Catterall on 26 February 2022. In the opening round, Ramírez knocked his opponent down after landing a left hand. During the second round, Donovan suffered a cut over his right eye after Ramírez landed a left uppercut. Ramírez started pressuring his opponent in the third round and eventually hit Donovan with a hard left hook which put him against the ropes. Ramírez immediately followed this up with another left hand which knocked Donovan down for a second time. Following the second knockdown, the referee called an end to the bout immediately. On 18 June 2022, Ramírez faced Abraham Nova, on the undercard of Joe Smith Jr vs. Artur Beterbiev. In the opening moments of the third round, Nova landed a right hand which knocked Ramírez off balance. Towards the end of the third round, Ramírez hurt his opponent after landing two heavy left hands. In the fifth round, Ramírez landed a straight left hand to the head of Nova which sent him to the canvas. Ramírez was declared the winner by knockout after the referee promptly ended the bout following the knockdown. Ramirez fought Jose Matias Romero on 29 October 2022. He won the fight by 9th round technical knockout.

WBO featherweight champion

Ramírez vs. Dogboe

Ramírez was booked to face the former WBO Junior-featherweight champion Isaac Dogboe on 1 April 2023, in the headliner of an ESPN+ broadcast event, which took place in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Although it was initially scheduled as an interim title bout, the fight was upgraded to a vacant championship bout on February 9, 2023, after the reigning WBO featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete vacated the belt in order to compete at super featherweight. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 118–109, 119–108 and 117–110. Ramírez knocked his opponent down with a left hand in the final round of the contest to score the sole knockdown of the fight.

Ramirez vs. Shimizu

Ramirez made the first defense of his WBO featherweight title against Satoshi Shimizu on 25 July 2023, on the undercard of Naoya Inoue vs. Stephen Fulton. Ramirez dominated and stopped Shimuzu in the 5th round, dropping him once before finishing him off with a flurry of unanswered punches and the referee called off the bout.

Ramirez vs. Espinoza

Making the second defense of his WBO featherweight title, Ramirez took on hard-hitting Mexican boxer Rafael "El Divino" Espinoza on the 9th of December, 2023, at the Charles F. Dodge City Center, Pembroke Pines, Florida, U.S.
Coming into the fight, Ramirez was heralded as the -1200 favorite to win, but the odds were proven wrong when Espinoza -- despite suffering a knockdown himself early in the fifth round -- toughened his way to a majority decision victory over Ramirez.

Post-championship return

Ramírez vs. Benitez

Ramírez was scheduled to face Brandon Leon Benitez in a 10-round featherweight bout at James L. Knight Center in Miami, FL on June 29, 2024. Ramírez won the fight via stoppage in the seventh round.

WBO featherweight championship rematch

Ramírez vs. Espinoza 2

Ramírez challenged Rafael Espinoza for WBO featherweight title in a championship rematch at Footprint Center in Phoenix, AZ on December 7, 2024. Ramírez lost the fight by TKO in the 6th round.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
17Loss14–3Rafael EspinozaTKO6, 0:127 Dec 2024Footprint Center, Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.For WBO featherweight title
16Win14–2Brandon Leon BenitezKO7 29 Jun 2024James L. Knight Center, Miami Beach, Florida, USWon NABO featherweight title
15Loss13–2Rafael EspinozaMD129 Dec 2023Charles F. Dodge City Center, Pembroke Pines, Florida, USLost WBO featherweight title
14Win13–1Satoshi ShimizuTKO5 1:0825 Jul 2023Ariake Arena, Tokyo, JapanRetained WBO featherweight title
13Win12–1Isaac DogboeUD121 Apr 2023Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USWon vacant WBO featherweight title
12Win11–1Jose Matias RomeroTKO9, 2:2029 Oct 2022Hulu Theater, New York City, New York, US
11Win10–1Abraham NovaKO5, 2:2018 Jun 2022Hulu Theater, New York City, New York, USWon vacant WBO Global and USBA featherweight titles
10Win9–1Eric DonovanTKO3, 1:0426 Feb 2022OVO Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland
9Win8–1Orlando Gonzalez RuizUD109 Oct 2021T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada, USWon vacant NABF junior featherweight title
8Win7–1Ryan Lee AllenUD622 May 2021Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, Paradise, Nevada, US
7Win6–1Brandon ValdesTKO6, 2:5812 Dec 2020MGM Grand Conference Center, Paradise, Nevada, US
6Win5–1Felix CaraballoUD819 Sep 2020MGM Grand Conference Center, Paradise, Nevada, US
5Win4–1Adan GonzalesUD62 Jul 2020MGM Grand Conference Center, Paradise, Nevada, US
4Win3–1Yeuri AndujarTKO1, 0:549 Jun 2020MGM Grand Conference Center, Paradise, Nevada, US
3Win2–1Rafeal MoralesKO4, 2:5921 Feb 2020Miccosukee Indian Gaming Resort, Miami, Florida, US
2Win1–1Fernando Ibarra De AndaKO6, 1:379 Nov 2019Chukchansi Park, Fresno, California, US
1Loss0–1Adan Gonzales410 Aug 2019Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US