Rafael Espinoza can star against ‘hellacious’ rival Sergio Chirino Sanchez live on Sky Sports | Boxing News

Rafael Espinoza captured the WBO featherweight world title in dramatic circumstances when he upset brilliant Cuban Robeisy Ramirez.

In their 12-round thriller Mexico’s Espinoza rose from the canvas in the fifth round to put Ramirez down in the last to edge a close majority decision win.

He makes his first defence of the title against Mexican rival Sergio Chirino Sanchez in Las Vegas, live on Sky Sports Action at 2am on Saturday morning.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Highlights of Rafael Espinoza’s stunning upset win over Robeisy Ramirez as he clinched the WBO featherweight title

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum expects their world title fight to be all action.

“First of all, [Espinoza] had a great record in Mexico. He was known as a knockout guy and a very crowd-pleasing fighter and then we brought him to fight Robeisy Ramirez, assuming it would be a good test for Ramirez and lo and behold Espinoza won the fight,” Arum told Sky Sports.

“It may very well be that he is one of these fighters that’s a jewel, that’s going to be very hard for anybody to beat.”

Arum suspects he could have a new star on his hands.

“That’s what we’ll see on Saturday. He’s fighting a very tough Mexican guy. I understand that they sparred together at one point and had hellacious sessions,” he revealed.

“That kind of fighter and those kind of fights is what builds stars.”

Ramirez returns to action the following weekend on the Teofimo Lopez undercard, also live on Sky Sports next Saturday.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

US Olympian Troy Isley came out on top when he faced Marcos Hernandez from Turning Stone Resort Casino

The first Ramirez-Espinoza fight was so good, Arum expects to make a second before the winner then moves on to featherweight title unifications.

“I would want to run back the Robeisy Ramirez fight because that was such an upset and if he does it again – Robeisy was one of the best amateurs ever, two Olympic gold medals – then we know we really have something big on our hands,” he said.

“We have so many of the really good featherweights that we can make some interesting fights for him.”

On the undercard at Fontainebleau Las Vegas unbeaten prospects Andres Cortes and Troy Isley are both taking significant challenges.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Troy Isley lands a power punch

Cortes goes in with former world title challenger Abraham Nova, while Isley meets fellow unbeaten middleweight Javier Martinez.

“They’re in tough. No more fooling around building up their records. They’re in very, very competitive fights and that’s the way it should be and that’s why they’ve moved from the bottom of the bill to the top of the bill,” Arum said.

“Cortes, who’s a local kid from Vegas, will be fighting Nova who’s been in many main events and this is a big, big, big step up for Cortes. And Isley is going to fight another one of our fighters Javier Martinez, also in a terrific, terrific battle. I understand they were rivals in the amateurs.

“So it’s going to be a very, very fun good card.”

Watch Espinoza vs Sanchez live on Sky Sports Action from 2am on Saturday morning

Source link

Visited 1 times, 1 visit(s) today

Related Article

Europa League: Lazio 1-1 Viktoria Plzen

ROME, ITALY – MARCH 13: Alessio Romagnoli of Lazio celebrates scoring his team’s first goal with teammates during the UEFA Europa League 2024/25 Round of 16 Second Leg match between S.S. Lazio and FC Viktoria Plzen at Stadio Olimpico on March 13, 2025 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Paolo Bruno/Getty Images) Alessio Romagnoli’s third

Europa League: Athletic Club 3-1 Roma

ROME, ITALY – MARCH 06: Nico Williams of Athletic Club is challenged by Paulo Dybala of AS Roma during the UEFA Europa League 2024/25 Round of 16 First Leg match between AS Roma and Athletic Club at Stadio Olimpico on March 06, 2025 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Paolo Bruno/Getty Images) An early Mats

Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend | Premier League

1 Moyes has Everton looking up Premier League safety is all that matters to David Moyes and an eight-game unbeaten run – Everton’s best sequence since going nine matches without defeat under Ronald Koeman in 2016-17 – has almost accomplished a task that looked much more onerous when he returned in January. Publicly, the Everton

Borussia Dortmund backed to eliminate Barcelona from the Champions League

Barcelona are one of the favourites to win this season’s Champions League, especially after Liverpool were knocked out earlier this week. Hansi Flick’s side and Real Madrid are many people’s frontrunners to win the competition, and they could end up meeting in the final, which would be the first time that this has happened in

Ranieri: ‘Clear’ Hummels red card, ‘I had lost Valverde’s number’

Ranieri: ‘Clear’ Hummels red card, ‘I had lost Valverde’s number’ Claudio Ranieri admits Mats Hummels deserved an early red card against Athletic Club and reveals he gave Ernesto Valverde a note with his mobile number. Ranieri’s Roma lost 3-1 in Bilbao this evening and were eliminated from the Europa League Round of 16. Hummels received

‘High-level’ Lazio performance for Europa League quarter-finals

PLZEN, CZECH REPUBLIC – MARCH 06: SS Lazio head coach Marco Baroni during the UEFA Europa League 2024/25 Round of 16 First Leg match between FC Viktoria Plzen and S.S. Lazio at Stadion mesta Plzne on March 06, 2025 in Plzen, Czech Republic. (Photo by Marco Rosi – SS Lazio/Getty Images) Lazio coach Marco

Former Real Madrid champion criticizes Vinicius and the attitude of Real Madrid players

Real Madrid‘s victory over Atlético Madrid in the Champions League Round of 16 has sparked significant controversy, particularly concerning the team’s celebration after a contentious penalty shootout. The match itself generated heated discussion, but the post-game reactions from players and fans have added fuel to the fire. Former Real Madrid midfielder Clarence Seedorf has voiced

Conference League: Fiorentina vs Panathinaikos

David De Gea saves a penalty during Fiorentina-Milan EPA-EFE/CLAUDIO GIOVANNINI David de Gea starts in goal while Albert Gudmundsson partners Moise Kean in attack as Fiorentina aim for a win and Europa League quarter-final qualification against Panathinaikos. It kicks off at 21:00 CET (20:00 GMT). Fiorentina coach Raffaele Palladino has picked De Gea in

Hummels gets early red card in Athletic Club vs Roma

EMPOLI, ITALY – MARCH 9: Mats Hummels of AS Roma in action during the Serie A match between Empoli and AS Roma at Stadio Carlo Castellani on March 9, 2025 in Empoli, Italy. (Photo by Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images) Roma defender Mats Hummels received a straight red card after just 11 minutes in an away

How the Premier League Could Gain More Spots

The Premier League is poised for an unprecedented moment in European football. Based on performances in UEFA competitions, England is leading the coefficient rankings, meaning a fifth Champions League place is within reach for next season. But in a scenario where results align favourably, as many as seven Premier League teams could find themselves in

Germany Call Up Yann Bisseck For Quarterfinal Clash Against Italy

Germany squad: Oliver Baumann (Hoffenheim), Alexander Nubel (Stuttgart), Stefan Ortega (Manchester City), Yann Bisseck (Inter), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Robin Koch (Eintracht Frankfurt), Maximilian Mittelstadt (Stiuttgart), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen), Karim Adeyemi (Borussia Dortmund), Nadiem Amiri (Mainz), Robert Andrich (Bayer Leverkusen), Leon Goretzka (Bayern Munich), Pascal

When can Liverpool win the Premier League title?

The Premier League title race has become a procession for Liverpool. With a vast 15-point lead at the top of the table, the only uncertainty would seem to be when Arne Slot’s side confirm the championship, rather than if. Here, The Athletic examines the permutations for the remainder of the season. What are Liverpool and Arsenal’s

Europa League: Athletic Club vs. Roma – Confirmed line-ups

Aretm Dovbyk returns to the Giallorossi starting line-up as Roma take on Athletic Club in the Basque Country in the second leg of their Europa League round of 16 tie on Thursday evening. Kick-off is due in the early-evening slot at 17.45 GMT. You can follow the action as it unfolds on the Football Italia

0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x