Robeisy Ramirez was barely five months removed from his disastrous pro debut when his fight was announced for a Miami homecoming.

Felix ‘Tutico’ Zabala’s All Star Boxing and Boxeo Telemundo held a press conference to roll out the full schedule for the 2020 schedule for the now defunct boxing series. Ramirez was slotted as the co-feature to a February 2020 show featuring Jonathan ‘Bomba’ Gonzalez who hadn’t yet won his WBO 108-pound title.

The event took place at Miccosukee Indian Gaming Resort in Miami, Ramirez’s adopted hometown after he defected from Cuba and where he claimed a fourth-round knockout of unbeaten Rafael Morales to advance to 2-1. The two-time Olympic Gold medalist has added another eleven wins to his total, along with a major title as he brings the WBO featherweight title to a homecoming headliner that he’d always envisioned for his career.

“I feel like the people of Miami get to see a much better version of me in this fight,” Ramirez admitted to BoxingScene.com.

“When I last fought here, I was just starting out my pro career, it was my third pro fight. I was still trying to get people to forget about my loss in my pro debut.”  

Ramirez (13-1, 8KOs) has done that and then some ever since his August 2019 split decision loss to Adan Gonzales. An impressive 13 wins have followed, including a revenge-fueled win over Gonzales to avenge his lone defeat. He has since acquired the WBO featherweight title, which he will defend versus unbeaten contender Rafael Espinoza (21-0, 18KOs) atop a December 9 ESPN card from Charles F. Dodge City Center in Pembroke Pines, Florida.

The fight is just his second in South Florida and figures to carry far greater notoriety than his Telemundo co-feature spent in a pop-up venue.

“It was a great night in Miami, a lot of Cubans. But it was a small show on Telemundo,” noted Ramirez, who defeated Isaac Dogboe to win the title in April and already defended in a fifth-round knockout of Satoshi Shimizu in Kotu, Japan. “I’m coming back as a world champion, in a much bigger venue and on a much bigger platform.

“I’m thrilled that Top Rank was able to put this together and I plan to give the fans a night they will never forget.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox