El Teatro del Pueblo in Puebla, Mexico will be the place for fight fans to be this Saturday, November 17, when Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Promotions presents a stellar doubleheader featuring the next generation of Mexican superstars which will be televised on Televisa in Mexico and FOX Deportes in the United States.
In the 10-round main event, unbeaten middleweight power-puncher Gilberto Ramirez of Mazatlan attempts to close out the biggest year of his career in spectacular fashion when he meets Florida’s Marcus Upshaw. The opening fight of the Televisa and FOX Deportes doubleheader will feature another undefeated warrior, Mexico City’s Marco Antonio Periban, as he battles Francisco Sierra of Tepic in a 10 round super middleweight showdown.
Ramirez vs. Upshaw and Periban vs. Sierra are presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Promotions and sponsored by Corona. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. CT and the first fight begins at 6:30 p.m. CT. The Televisa broadcast will air on Canal 5 at 10:30 p.m. CT and the FOX Deportes broadcasts will air at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT.
21-year-old phenom Gilberto Ramirez (23-0, 19 KO’s) is a dynamic southpaw with all the tools to make a world title run in 2013. A professional since 2009, “Zurdo” has held the WBC Youth World middleweight title since 2011, but it was this year in which he introduced the world to his talent. 3-0 thus far, Ramirez is coming off of the biggest win of his career in August, when he shut out longtime contender Richard Gutierrez.
Trained by the renowned John David Jackson, Marcus Upshaw (14-7-2, 6 KO’s) of Jacksonville, Florida is traveling to Mexico for the first time with ‘upset’ on his mind. A six-year professional, the 32-year-old is coming off of a decision win over then 13-3 Durrell Richardson in January and a draw with then 11-0 prospect Cerresso Fort in September of 2011, giving him the confidence that he can put a loss on Ramirez’ perfect record.
Marco Antonio Periban (18-0, 12 KO’s) has picked things up in the last two years of his professional career, making himself a serious threat in the super middleweight division. Competing for the fourth time in 2012, the 28-year-old Periban wants to finish off the year with another knockout to make it three in a row on his current streak.
Francisco “Panchito” Sierra (25-6-1, 22 KO’s) has packed a lot of fighting into his 24 years and has plenty of desire and determination to do even more in the coming years. The winner of fights against Don George, former World Champion Jose Luis “Maestrito” Lopez and Rogelio Ruvalcaba, Sierra came up on the short end in a rough and tumble brawl against rising British star George Groves in his last bout in July, but he’s ready to come out with fists flying this Saturday.
