In the biggest fight and toughest test of his professional career, Rico Ramos defeated Alejandro Valdez by decision Friday night from Bally’s in Atlantic City. Valdez gave Ramos plenty to think about, but at the end of the 10 round affair, had been outworked and outfought by the young prospect. Ramos, still just 23 years old, is now 19-0 with 10 knockouts.
Ramos gave up nearly 4 inches in height to the sinewy Valdez, but the two played opposite roles as you might expect from height alone. Ramos was the boxer, and Valdez was the pressure fighter, itching to get inside. He played the part of a 122 lb Antonio Margarito quite well. Ramos landed the harder shots of the two fighters, and threw more effective combinations. But when Valdez got Ramos against the ropes, which was more often than Ramos surely would have preferred, he enjoyed a more than fair share amount of success. Ramos though controlled more of the action with his speed and his more solid connects.
The judges’ cards for the bout read 97-93, 97-93, and 98-92. It arguably could have been much closer than that, however, it seemed clear that Ramos won the bout.
Valdez falls to 23 (17) – 5- 3, and is just 3-3-1 in his last 7 fights. However, the other two losses came against Hozumi Hasegawa and Nehomar Cermeno, elite fighters at 118 lbs, the weight Valdez had been competing at. The draw was a Technical Draw against Fernando Montiel, in a fight that could have been ruled a win, as a cut was incorrectly ruled as being caused by a headbutt.
Ramos improves to 19-0 with 10 knockouts, and now has a legitimate name on his resume. In a super bantamweight division devoid of many big names, Ramos could see himself in a title fight sooner than later. He has some kinks to work out, but showed he has the tools to do just that in defeating Valdez.
