Robeisy Ramirez Ready To Go For World Title Saturday

Coming up Saturday night in Tulsa, OK, top WBO featherweight contender Robeisy Ramirez will battle former 122 lb. world champ Isaac Dogboe for the vacant strap in the Top Rank Boxing/ESPN+ main event.

On Thursday, the fighters met with the media for the final time in anticipation of their 12 round showdown, which is the first time Ramirez will try for a world championship.

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The #RamirezDogboe Presser starts now ⤵️ https://t.co/8cWDVVBquq

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The two-time Olympic gold medalist Ramirez (11-1, 7 KOs) and Dogboe (24-2, 15 KOs) are set to collide at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa.

Ramirez (11-1, 7 KOs) has won 11 fights since losing in his pro debut in August 2019. The 29-year-old joined forces with Cuban trainer Ismael Salas, who has helped channel his talents into a more professional style. As a result, Ramirez scored three consecutive knockout wins in 2022.

He stopped Irish veteran Eric Donovan and starched then-unbeaten contender Abraham Nova with a single straight left hand. Last October, he defeated Jose Matias Romero via ninth-round TKO. Ramirez will face the stiffest test of his career against the 28-year-old Dogboe (24-2, 15 KOs), a Ghanaian former junior featherweight world champion who hopes to conquer a second weight class.

Dogboe lost his title to Emanuel Navarrete by one sided decision in December of 2018 and the Mexican then pounded him for 12 rounds in the rematch six months later before getting a TKO in the final frame. Now, Dogboe nicknamed “Desert Storm” has moved up to featherweight and won four straight bouts.

That includes his split decision 10 round win over Joet Gonzalez last July that has positioned him for the fight with Ramirez.

“This title opportunity means everything. We are ready. I’ve come to fight the best. And now we are here. When I say that I’m ready, it’s because I’ve passed through the process. It’s all about the process. Life shows you that if you don’t pass through the process, things can happen. So, the opportunity has come at the right moment. I am ready,” Ramirez said through an interpreter Thursday.

“Ismael Salas is a strategist. He is an excellent teacher. He has many world champions, and he has been doing this for many years. Salas has given me the confidence, the knowledge and dexterity to bring out the best of me in the ring. Working with him has been the best thing that has happened to my career.”

As for  Dogboe, he said Thursday, “I feel great. They say that the third time’s a charm. The first time was great. The second time (losing to Navarrete twice) wasn’t all that great. But I feel great about this trip…. I’m always going to show up. I thank God for giving me that mental fortitude. That’s why everything that has transpired in my boxing career has happened.”

“I have a second chance now. I know that Robeisy is tough. He is a good fighter. But I know that we will come out with the victory on April 1.”

In the co-feature, two-time world title challenger Joet Gonzalez (25-3, 15 KOs) will take on Mexico’s Jose Enrique Vivas (22-2, 11 KOs) in a 10-round featherweight tilt.

Undercard fighters include Tulsa-born heavyweight prospect Jeremiah Milton (8-0, 6 KOs), lightweight sensation Emiliano Fernando Vargas (3-0, 2 KOs), U.S. Olympian Tiger Johnson (7-0, 5 KOs), and a high-stakes junior middleweight bout between Jahi Tucker (9-0, 5 KOs) and Nikoloz Sekhniashvili (8-1, 6 KOs).

Ramirez-Dogboe headlines a stacked card streaming live and exclusively in the U.S. on ESPN+.