Rafael Espinoza says he has improved since his previous fight against former WBO featherweight champion Robeisy Ramirez last year on December 9, and he will be ready to defeat him a second time this Saturday, December 7 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona .
(Credit: Top Rank)
Espinoza (25-0, 21 KOs) will defend his WBO 126 lb title he won against two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisy (14-2, 9 KOs). The event will be shown live on ESPN and ESPN+ at 10:30 PM ET/7:30 PM PT.
The fight was very competitive until the 12th when Espinoza ran at a tired Robeisy to drop him to win a 12-round majority decision.
No excuses
“When I’m in the fight, I like to decide what I’m going to do and adapt to it. I do things so they don’t hurt me as much. I try to box and not get hit and leave everything in the ring,” Rafael Espinoza told the Sean Zittel. channelwhich is responding to the fact that Robeisy Ramirez said he wants to land his shots between his combinations on Saturday.
“Sometimes I like to push forward to get the results I want to push on the gas. I’m going to try to do everything intelligently in the ring,” Espinoza continued. “I don’t know what happened to him, but I do expect the best version of Robeisy. I want the best version, and I don’t want any excuses. I’m also going to try to give the best version of myself.”
Espinoza is going to take a lot of beating in this fight, and he has to hope that he can take the power from Robeisy, as he came close to being knocked out in the fifth round after being dropped. It was fortunate for Espinoza that the takedown came in the final seconds of the round.
“I have improved a lot since the first fight (with Ramirez) in all areas, physically with my strength. I worked on the mistakes I made so that I can do things flawlessly. There is also no distraction, and my mentality is on top. So, in the first fight I didn’t give up, and in this second fight that word doesn’t even cross my mind,” Espinoza said.
We don’t know if the 6’1″ Espinoza has improved since his win over Robeisy as he has only fought once against a very beatable Sergio Chirino Sanchez, stopping him in the fourth round on June 21st. Unfortunately, we won’t know if Espinoza has improved until he faces Robeisy on Saturday night.
Robeisy says he wasn’t at his best for the previous fight against Espinoza because his father was in the hospital and he wasn’t prepared. This time, he believes he will be ready and have the right game plan to defeat Espinoza.
“I don’t like to say if I’m going to knock out, because those words blow in the wind. So what I’m going to do is give it my best shot so there’s no doubt what’s happening. I’ve been in this division (featherweight) for a long time. I supported myself well. It all depends on my body. I would like to unite. If I can stay in this division, it won’t be a problem. I plan to stay in this division for a long time, no problems,” Espinoza said.
If Espinoza stays at 126, he’s going to eventually outgrow this weight class and start suffering losses. It might be better for him to move up to 130 while still fighting at a high level, as he could take advantage of the money that will be available against WBO super featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete. There is a title fight against WBC champion O’Shaquie Foster.
