Luis Ramos Jr. Remains Perfect, Decisions Allotey

By Jake Donovan

Junior welterweight prospect Luis Ramos Jr. remains perfect after scoring a unanimous decision win over Joshua Allotey on Friday evening at the Convention Center in McAllen, Texas.

The bout served as the main event in the latest installment of Telefutura’s “Solo Boxeo” series.

While the outcome was never in doubt, Ramos threatened on several occasions to close matter inside the distance. The undefeated southpaw kept Allotey pinned on the ropes for a good portion of their bout, often connecting with uppercuts and crushing body shots. The punches would land, but Ramos could never find that one final blow to ultimately end matters.

Ramos was content to keep it strictly boxing in the early going, but elected to pick up the pace in the fourth round, cornering Allotey for the first time in the fight before the sequence would eventually become a familiar pattern over the course of their eight round bout.

For his part, Allotey was competitive in spots, but opted for the earmuffs anytime things were tough. Falling way behind, the Ghanaian put up a fight in the fifth – easily his best of the fight, even if he didn’t necessarily win it.

The threat of fighting back was enough to convince Ramos to dig deeper and come with the heavy artillery with each passing round. The fight eventually reached a point where a win was all but guaranteed, but Ramos’ corner instructed their charge to go all out in the final round rather than settle for a points victory.

A knockout wouldn’t come, but Ramos did his best to follow instructions, closing strong much to the delight of the spirited crowd on hand.

Scores were 80-72 (twice) and 79-73, all for Ramos, who now improves to 16-0 (8KO).

Allotey drops his fifth straight in falling to 16-10 (14KO).

A promising blue chipper fighting under the Espinoza Boxing Club banner, Ramos Jr is able to gain more exposure than most prospects and newcomers thanks to several output deals in place by promoter Golden Boy Promotions.

Having come up on the Club Nokia circuit, Ramos Jr. showed enough poise and skill to prove his worth as a formidable Solo Boxeo headliner.

Another fighter who should expect to see frequent airtime in the near future is local undefeated lightweight Omar Figueroa, who looked impressive for as long as his foul-filled bout lasted with journeyman Julian Rodriguez in their televised co-feature.

A shootout appeared to be in store, only Rodriguez wasn’t very interested in embracing the role of opponent. The Mexican was warned several times for low blows before being finally shown the exit at 1:15 of the second round.

It was frustrating for Figueroa, who hails from nearby Weslaco and was determined to put on a show for the local and rabid fans in attendance. He wasn’t given much time to do his thing, as every rally seemed to have been met with a flagrant foul from Rodriguez.

Figueroa was able to give the crowd reason to cheer early in the second, even if it was the result of a blown call. Seconds after recovering from yet another low blow, Figueroa sent Rodriguez to the canvas. Televised replays detected that the punch which forced Rodriguez to take a knee was in fact south of the border, but was nevertheless ruled a knockdown.

Chants of “Panterita” busted out throughout the arena, but it would be the last bit of clean action to offer the crowd. Rodriguez showed no interest in cleanly fighting back, immediately retaliating with a low blow and punching on the break, prompting the referee to wave his arms and call off the bout.

Figueroa improves to 10-0 (8KO), while Rodriguez dips below .500 as he is now 18-19-4 (12KO).

Houston-based junior middleweight Jermell Charlo was able to sneak onto the televised portion of the show and made the most of the opportunity, icing Adan Murillo in less than a round.

Charlo wasted no time in taking the action to the Mexican journeyman, charging across the ring and landing a series of head shots. Murillo was forced into retreat mode from jump before a straight left hand sent him to the canvas just 30 seconds into the contest.

The bout wouldn’t last much longer than that. Charlo was forced to wait out the eight-count before continuing, and a follow-up volley of punches put Murillo down and eventually out. Referee Jon Schorle immediately waved off the bout after the second knockdown without issuing a count.

The official time was 1:03 of the first round.

With the win, Charlo advances to 12-0 (6KO); Murillo’s record now evens up at 4-4 (1KO).

The show was presented by Golden Boy Promotions.