It was last December when Robeisy Ramirez (14-2, 9 KOs) and Rafael Espinoza (25-0, 21 KOs) fought in a hard-fought battle in Miami, where both touched the canvas and after 36 minutes of an excellent struggle. war, a new champion was crowned.
(Credit: Top Rank)
Rafael Espinoza achieved his lifelong dream of becoming a world champion by capturing the WBO featherweight championship and throwing nearly 1,000 punches in the bout. He was resilient, determined and tenacious and overcame a foot injury sustained in the 5th round when he was knocked down. Here it is, December again, and we find ourselves days away from what should be an epic rematch.
Both are trying to improve from the first match, Espinoza because of his foot injury and Ramirez because of personal problems that affected his performance. Robeisy’s father was ill in the run-up to the game and was affected by his father’s condition during training camp. He vowed to do better this time and reclaim his title. Their match will be the Emanuel Navarrette vs. Oscar Valdez card on Saturday, December 7th in Phoenix, Arizona.
Robeisy Ramirez was overwhelmed by a relentless volume attack that he could not stop. Espinoza threw 121 punches in the 12th round, showing that he has great stamina and endurance and can throw so many punches until the end of the match. He was able to land a fight-high 45 power punches in the round, overwhelming Ramirez and dropping him late in the round.
If Espinoza can improve on this performance, he will create defensive challenges for Ramirez. He has to be careful not to stifle his attack like in the first match and not throw punches recklessly. He needs to be more controlled and precise with his punches.
He has a 6-inch reach advantage and must use it effectively by fighting at long range. If he can control the distance, it will allow him to be much more accurate with his punches and ultimately make it harder for Ramirez to counter.
Espinoza is not sound defensively and takes unnecessary punishment due to his thirst for blood; he tends to stay in the pocket longer than he should. Ramirez has power, and if he sees an opening, he’ll take it. He will look to capitalize on any and every opportunity he is given, as he did in the first game when he scored the knockdown in the 5th round.
Robeisy has an Olympic pedigree and can, when he chooses, box brilliantly. Fighting the tall, tall Satoshi Shimizu, who stood at 5’11 and had a 3.5 reach advantage over him, he closed the distance and penetrated his guard with an effective uppercut leading and following it up with combo punches.
Defensively, he used a high guard, parried and slipped punches, and moved effectively out of range. He didn’t do these things against Espinoza in the first game; he has to do it in the rematch to be successful. Rafael has greater bump resistance, a longer reach, and is generally much more skilled than Shimizu.
If Ramirez repeats the mistake of the first game, choosing to stay in the pocket and duke it out with Espinoza, he can be overwhelmed with the volume, he needs to box him intelligently using in-and-out movement like he did with Shimizu. Both boxers said they weren’t at their best in the first bout, admit their mistakes and will look to improve in what should make this a very interesting bout.
Source: Compubox
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