Abel Ramos wins third straight in Phoenix

By Santino DeFranco at ringside
Photos: Santino DeFranco

Welterweight Abel Ramos (17-1-2, 12 KOs) one of Arizona’s most promising prospects, picked up his third consecutive win at the Legends Event Center, in Phoenix, AZ, on Friday night over Juan Jesus Rivera (28-15, 18 KOs), who fights out of Aguascalientes, Mexico. The 146lb bout was scheduled for eight rounds of fighting, but didn’t see the final bell as Rivera’s corner stopped the fight just after the conclusions of the seventh round.

From the opening bell, Ramos continuously found a home for his right hand on the left eye of Rivera, who was game, but overmatched by the skill of the young fighter out of Casa Grande, Arizona. Within minutes of the opening bell, Rivera’s left eye was beginning to swell from the crisp combinations Ramos fired off. As expected, though, Rivera did fight valiantly, and never backed down from the confrontation—even waving his hands at Ramos to “bring the fight to him,” but he never found his rhythm.

It was definitely a crowd pleasing fight, especially for the many Ramos fans in attendance who cheered loudly and often as their fighter battered the journeyman. Rivera’s corner was not as entertained by the fight, and had seen enough blows land on their fighter, and intelligently waved off the affair before the final round could commence.

In addition to the victory, Ramos also took home the Association of Boxing Organizations (ABO) welterweight title. Ramos is looking to string together a series of wins after his only loss, where he was TKO’d in a televised Showtime Shobox bout by the up-and-coming prospect Regis Prograis in Houston, TX, last December.