By Jake Donovan
FRESNO--Jose Ramirez remained perfect, stopping Robert Frankel in the fifth round Saturday evening at Selland Arena in Fresno, California.
A perfectly placed left hook to the body put Frankel down and out at 2:18 of round five.
The bout marked Ramirez' third appearance at Selland Arena in the span of 51 weeks, developing into a huge draw in the Bay Area as yet another massive, sold-out crowd beared witness to his latest ring appearance.
Part of Ramirez' appeal - in addition to his amazing upside in the ring - is the activist side. The 22-year old is on the front line of the California Latino Water Coalition, whose mission is to help resolve the ongoing water crisis in California. With that came "Fight For Water 2" as this promotion was billed, a follow-up to his appearance in the venue last October, drawing 10,000 fans in packing the arena.
A similar turnout was produced on Saturday, and Ramirez gave the partisan crowd plenty of reason to cheer. The 2012 U.S. Olympian came flying off of his stool, slamming home a left hook that sent Frankel reeling in the opening round.
The night never got any better for the visiting journeyman from Colorado, although he showed a world class chin in taking Ramirez' best shots. This much was picked up by Ramirez and his team - which includes Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach - and the necessary adjustments were eventually made.
Four rounds of punishment finally came to a crashing halt in round five. Continuing to land at will, Ramirez ended the bout in an instance, landing a perfectly executed left hook to the body, forcing Frankel (33-16-1, 6KOs) to take a knee and remain down for the full ten count.
Ramirez improves to 14-0 (11KOs) with the win, his first of 2015 after a sensational 2014 ring campaign that saw the Bay Area prospect go 6-0 (5KOs).
The bout aired live on UniMas in the United States.
UNDERCARD
Oscar Valuenza barely edged Irving Garcia, claiming an eight-round majority decision in their televised co-feature.
Scores were 76-76 even and 77-75 (twice) in favor of Valenzuela, who struggled with Garcia's aggression all night.
Both fighters were forced to deal with early adversity. Valenzuela suffered a cut somewhere in the first couple of rounds, at which point Garcia was already fighting through a bloody nose. Difficulty in breathing didn't discourage Garcia from coming forward at any point in the fight, constantly dictating the pace in prompting a slugfest.
Boxing through four rounds, Valenzuela finally bit down and traded in round five. Garcia was forced to back up, though both fighters landed plenty of power shots in the action-filled round. The tactic allowed Valenzuela to alternate between slugging and moving, using lateral movement to surge ahead down the stretch and ultimately prevail/
The win is Valenzuela's first since suffering the lone loss of his career, an eight-round decision at the hands of Mike 'Yes Indeed' Reed last November. The El Paso native improves to 9-1-1 (5KOs). Garcia suffers his second consecutive defeat, falling to 10-3 (6KOs).
OFF-TV
Danny Valdivia of Tulare, California won a six round unanimous decision over Rick Graham of Detroit. All three judges saw it 60-54.
Joey Lopez of Fresno won a four round unanimous decision over Daniel Henry of Austin. The scores were 40-36 x 2 and 39-37.
Eric Altamirano of Fresno scored a third round stoppage over Hilario Medina of Longmont, Colorado.
In an all-out war with two boxers making their professional debuts, Alex Rojas of Fowler, California and Gabriel Solorio of Seattle went to a four round majority draw. The scores were Rojas 39-37, and the other cards were 38-38, 38-38.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
