Robeisi vs. Espinosa II: Will the WBO champion's luck run out?

Robeizy Ramirez says he will be at his best on Saturday in his rematch with Rafael Espinoza and reclaim the WBO featherweight title when they clash at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. This fight is for Cuba's Robeisi (14-2, 9 KOs) to get back to where he should be at the top, holding the WBO belt and facing other champions at 126.

Can Espinosa repeat himself?

Ramirez wasn't supposed to lose to the 6'1″ Espinoza in their fight last year on December 9th, but he wasn't in the best shape. Two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisi was not 100% and faded on the course. In the 12th round he took a knee due to fatigue while attacking Espinoza.

Fatigue resulted in Robeysy losing a 12-round majority decision with the score:

– 113-113
– 114-112
– 115-111

Even when Ramirez isn't the best, he was easily able to win by knockout in the fifth round because he knocked out Espinoza. When the Mexican fighter got back up, he fell into the ropes. Normally, the referees will stop the fight when the fighter is in such a state, but this referee allowed the match to continue. Espinoza was an accidental champion and wouldn't be in most cases.

The round ended before Robeisi could pounce on Espinosa to finish him off. In both cases, it was Espinoza's good fortune that he fought his way out of fifth place. That was his luck, but he may not survive the return leg on Saturday night as Robeisi will attack him as relentlessly as he did in the fifth. Maybe this time there is no referee to save Espinoza.

“Back Where I Belong”

“The reality is that it wasn't the best version of me, and I was still able to put on a great show, and so the second fight will be better,” Robeisi Ramirez said. Sky Sportstalking about his fight against Rafael Espinoza last year on December 9th.

“I'll get back to where I'm supposed to be.” I didn't see myself losing. In the last round he didn't throw a punch which put me in a bad position. I went down, if you see the replay, I went down from fatigue,” continued Robeisi.

“Now I have to get the title back and I'll be ready to unify against any of the champions out there. There's no problem fighting any of them.”