Jesus Ramos Jnr ill with food poisoning and off Saturday's PBC card, official says
Sep 18, 2026 • 1:15 PM ET
Dylan Trevino / Premier Boxing ChampionsSAN DEGO – WBC interim middleweight beltholder Jesus Ramos Jnr has fallen ill with a suspected case of food poisoning and his scheduled Saturday title defense against Meiirim Nursaltanov is off, an official monitoring the Premier Boxing Champions card told BoxingScene Friday.
PBC officials did not immediately provide confirmation.
Under the main event pitting WBC interim 140lbs champion Isaac ”Pitbull” Cruz of Mexico versus Puerto Rico’s Nestor Bravo, Ramos’ bout versus Kazakhstan’s top-ranked Nursaltanov, 20-0 (11 KOs), was to establish the next opponent for WBC full middleweight champion Carlos Adames.
How Friday’s events will affect that are uncertain.
Ramos was in good spirits at Thursday’s final news conference, saying he was looking forward to the Adames title fight and a string of important middleweight bouts in successive order.
“I’m excited, and that’s the type of energy I’m trying to bring to this sport,” Ramos, 25, said. “I don’t want to wait some of these fighters out and fight them in five, 10 years. I want to fight them now. I want to beat them now – when I’m in my prime and they’re in their prime. That’s when it matters. Fights now are all legacy fights. That’s what I want.”
Premier Boxing Champions’ next card is an October 17 show at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas featuring championship fights including WBC 154lbs titlist Sebastian Fundora and WBA featherweight champion Brandon Figueroa.
The Ramos-Nursaltanov bout has been replaced as co-main on Saturday’s card by a super-middleweight clash pitting Milwaukee’s Daniel Blancas, 15-0 (7 KOs), versus Sergio Jimenez, 17-1-1 (15 KOs).
Lance Pugmire has been a full-time boxing writer for nearly 20 years, serving now as BoxingScene’s U.S. Senior Writer and assistant producer for ProBoxTV’s “BoxingScene Today.” Pugmire capped a near 20-year career at the Los Angeles Times (sports investigations, NHL/MLB beat work, law enforcement/courts and boxing/UFC) to join The Athletic, and then USA Today. Pugmire’s stint at The Times started with the first Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez fight and the Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jnr then-record pay-per-view, leading through a slew of ringside assignments at major bouts, including Mayweather-Pacquiao, Mayweather-Canelo and the Canelo-Golovkin trilogy. Lance’s appreciation for boxing is rooted in his admiration and appreciation for the fighters, gladiators who have proven to be the most forthcoming and candid of all the athletes he has interviewed over a career dating to 1990. Lance was honored to be named the 2022 winner of the Boxing Writers Association of America Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence and he’s collected many BWAA writing awards in categories ranging from breaking news to deep-dive long features.
