Robeisy Ramirez gets back on the winning track, KOs Brandon Leon Benitez in seven

MIAMI, FL — Much was expected of Robeisy Ramirez. The two-time Olympic gold medalist was supposed to set the world on fire, like Vasiliy Lomachenko did. The Cuban expatriate featherweight southpaw has not yet exactly filled that promise.

He lost his pro debut, and then suffered the second setback in his pro career by losing the WBO featherweight title in an upset to Rafael Espinoza last December.

Now, Ramirez finds himself climbing back again.

On Saturday night, Ramirez took a solid step forward by knocking out Mexico’s Brandon Leon Benitez with a devastating left uppercut in the seventh of a scheduled 10-round featherweight fight on the Teofimo Lopez Jr.-Steve Claggett WBO/Ring Magazine junior welterweight world championship undercard from the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Florida.

More than anything, Ramirez (14-2, 9 knockouts) seemed to toy with Benitez. He was certainly quicker and possessed more skills than the overmatched Mexican. When Benitez tried loading up, Ramirez was nowhere to be found, leaving Benitez often swatting at air.

Behind his darting and probing, Ramirez started packing rounds. He seemed content to stay on the outside and outbox his inferior foe. His punches came one at a time, which was one more than the reluctant Benitez (21-3, 9 KOs) seemed willing to throw. He came in 1.1 pounds over the 126-pound featherweight limit. Only Ramirez was eligible to win something called the vacant NABO featherweight belt.

Finally in the seventh, Ramirez put down the hammer, in the form of a left uppercut that sent Benitez into a heap at 2:46 of the seventh round.

“It’s no secret that Ismael Salas is one of the best strategists in the world,” Ramirez said. “And so the plan was to wear him down little by little. Then, after the last round, he tells me not to look for power shots but to move a bit and to return to my {amateur} roots. That’s what I did. I touched and touched, and I found the shot.”

“It’s not my first time landing a shot like that. It feels good to land a punch like that because it demonstrates that we worked hard in camp.”

“I want my title back. I want the rematch against Rafael Espinoza. If it’s not with him, then I can fight against any of the other champions.”

In a six-round middleweight war, Nico Ali Walsh avenged his lone pro loss with a unanimous, though controversial, victory over Sona Akale (9-2, 4 KOs). Walsh (11-1, 5 KOs) won by scores of 58-55 and 57-56 (2). The decision was greeted by a chorus of boos.

To his credit, it is the most intrepid Walsh has ever looked. He made a curious move in the sixth when he began jumping up and down, then crossing his chest slamming his right hand into his left shoulder. Here, Walsh had dislocated his left shoulder and was trying to slam it back into place.

He fought the rest of the final round with one arm.

Walsh, who knocked down Akale with a wild right in the third, may not have won in the eyes of the crowd, but continuing certainly merited serious courage points—the kind of bravery his famous grandfather would have been proud of.

Junior welterweight Emiliano Fernando Vargas (11-0, 9 KOs) made easy work of Jose Zaragoza (9-9-2, 3 KOs) winning by first-round stoppage at 1:32. Vargas, the son of Fernando Vargas, did not give Zaragoza time to breathe, jumping on him and downing him with a right in the first minute of the fight.

In a scheduled 10-round junior welterweight fight, Elvis Rodriguez returned from a 11-month layoff against rugged Filipino Jino Rodrigo. In the first round, Rodrigo dropped Rodriguez (16-1-1, 13 KOs) with a right on the temple. A few moments later, Rodriguez, on unsteady legs, returned the favor by putting Rodrigo (12-4-2, 10 KOs) down.

In the third, Rodriguez felled Rodrigo again with a right. Rodriguez seized control of the fight and won for the first time since July, 2023, winning by scores of 98-91 (2) and 97-92.

Lorenzo Medina went the distance for the second time in his career and received a battle in beating Detrailous Webster by six-round unanimous decision by scores of 60-54, 60-53 and 59-55.

Webster (7-4, 3 KOs) put up a fight. He actually had Medina in some trouble during a portion of the first, then he seemed to punch himself out. Medina (11-0, 9 KOs) then came back and threw a flurry of shots at Webster. It was sloppy, two fat guys flailing in a bar room, though it was entertaining.

Junior welterweight Rohan Polanco (13-0,8 KOs) stopped Luis Hernandez (23-4, 20 KOs) at 2:28 of the second round of a scheduled eight-rounder.

Featherweight Yan Santana (12-0, 11 KOs) went 10 rounds for the first time in his young career, winning a unanimous 98-91 (2), 96-93 decision over the very tough Brandon Valdes (15-5, 7 KOs).

It is the first time Santana went beyond four round. He knocked Valdez down in the first round with a left hook on the chin. Santana grew up a basketball player. He put the gloves on one day playing around with a friend, when a coach saw what he could do and convinced him to pursue boxing. Santana has the fundamentals down, does nothing flashy but he learned a wealth of knowledge Saturday night on the Lopez-Claggett undercard.

“I felt really good, it was really turning around the first time ever going 10 rounds, and with the event itself, I felt the pressure of defending for my country (the Dominican Republic) and everything, but it was a good experience and I am happy I won,” Santana said. “I learned a lot. Of course I am a confident fighter. I dropped my hands a little too much. I will talk to my team about that. These are things I want to learn and get better at, but I am overall happy about the performance.”

In the first fight of the night, middleweight Euri Cedeno (9-0-1, 8 KOs) made fast work out of Dormedes Potes (14-7-1, 10 KOs) with a first-round knockout at 58 seconds of the first round in a scheduled eight-rounder.

Joseph Santoliquito is a Hall of Fame, award-winning sportswriter who has been working for Ring Magazine/RingTV.com since October 1997 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.
Follow @JSantoliquito

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