Ramirez dominates Dogboe to win vacant featherweight title

Two-time Olympic gold medalist, who lost pro debut, reaches top

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Two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez had a very difficult and extremely complicated escape from Cuba, fleeing his repressive country and finally settling in the United States in 2018.

Ramirez, who won his second Olympic gold medal in 2016 by decision over Shakur Stevenson in the final, signed with Top Rank with fanfare and was viewed by many as a surefire future world champion.

His 2019 pro debut, however, was an absolute disaster. Instead of the expected easy blowout, Ramirez got knocked down in the first round and lost a four-round split decision to Adan Gonzalez.

Ramirez made wholesale changes to his team, including going with new trainer Ismael Salas. Since that pro debut train wreck, Ramirez has won 12 fights in a row, including avenging the loss to Gonzalez and handily outpointing Isaac Dogboe to win the vacant WBO featherweight title in the main event of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN+ card on Saturday night at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Ramirez, who scored a knockdown in the 12th round, won 119-108, 118-109 and 117-110 to claim the 126-pound belt vacated by Emanuel Navarrete in February after he moved up in weight and won the vacant WBO junior lightweight crown.

“I’m living a new stage in my life. This is a new history that I’m writing and I did everything I had to do,” Ramirez said through an interpreter. “As an Olympian I won two gold medals and now I can call myself a champion.

“All the respect to a warrior like Isaac Dogboe. He has my admiration and all it took was me listening to this genius, Ismael Salas, because I did that and that took me to victory.”

It was a lopsided one that Ramirez, a southpaw, dominated with his left hand and put him in an impressive club. He joined Hall of Famers such as Henry Armstrong, Benny Leonard, Bernard Hopkins and brothers Juan Manuel and Rafael Marquez, who lost their professional debuts and went on to win world titles.

“I believe things happen for a reason,” Ramirez said of his defeat. “Had it not been for that loss in my pro debut I never would have ended up with Ismael Salas. (Friend, countryman and former welterweight titlist) Yordenis Ugas would never have told me, ‘you have to move (from South Florida) to Las Vegas, you have to change your life,’ and I never would have gotten this team together to be where I am today.”

The fight began slowly but Ramirez (12-1, 7 KOs), 29, asserted himself in the second round, stunning Dogboe with a straight left hand with a minute left and landing several follow-up punches that forced Dogboe to hold.

Dogboe (24-3, 15 KOs), 28, a 2012 Olympian from Ghana and a former junior featherweight titlist, had some brief offensive moments, including in the sixth round when he rocked Ramirez with a right hand early in the round, but Ramirez answered with a hard left.

From there it was all Ramirez. Dogboe trainer Barry Hunter knew his man had to do something dramatic, pleading with him after the 10th round to win the final two rounds big.

But Dogboe could not do much at all and in the final round Ramirez landed a sweeping left hand that dropped an unsteady Dogboe to his rear end, although Dogboe insisted it was a slip.

“Robeisy Ramirez is a terrific fighter but the result is bullshit. That knockdown was no knockdown. It was a slip,” Dogboe said, even though the knockdown had zero impact on the result. “Let’s run it back. That’s all I have to say. Let’s run it back, a rematch. If he’s a true champion let’s run it back. He’s a great fighter but let’s have a rematch. I’ll tell you this — I’ll be back.”

According to CompuBox, Ramirez landed 160 of 495 punches (32 percent) and Dogboe landed 113 of 619 (18 percent). Ramirez outlanded him in every round except for the third (9-8).

“I give congratulations to the champ,” Hunter said. “He did his thing tonight. I disagree with how wide the margin was in the scores, but nevertheless it was a spirited fight. It was a heated fight. We definitely would like to see the fight again.”

There is very little chance of that happening not to mention Ramirez has other ideas.

“I want all the smoke,” Ramirez said. “I want all the guys, whether it’s Joet Gonzalez, who had a great performance tonight, Luis Alberto Lopez or Mick Conlan, whoever they want to put in front of me, I want all the great fights.”

Gonzalez (26-3, 15 KOs), a two-time featherweight title challenger, shook off a split decision loss to Dogboe in July by winning a lopsided decision (99-91, 98-92, 98-92) over Jose Enrique Vivas (22-3, 11 KOs) in the co-feature.

IBF titleholder Lopez (27-2, 15 KOs) is scheduled to defend his belt for the first time against fellow Top Rank fighter Conlan (18-1, 9 KOs) on May 27 in Conlan’s hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland.

There will be plenty of time for Ramirez and his team to plot the next move. In the meantime, Ramirez has plans.

“I now call myself a champion,” he said. “And I’m going to enjoy this moment.”

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Photos: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

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