Robeisy Ramirez tops Isaac Dogboe, wins WBO featherweight title

Robeisy Ramirez now has a championship belt to add to his long list of accomplishments.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist joined the ranks of boxing’s titlists with a convincing win over Isaac Dogboe, earning a unanimous decision to win the WBO featherweight championship on Saturday night at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa in Oklahoma. The judges scored the bout 117-110, 118-109 and 119-108 for Ramirez.

With a Cuban flag draped around his back, Ramirez lifted his arms in triumph when the decision was announced and his status as one of the best fighters in the 126-pound division was cemented.

“I’m living a new stage in my life,” Ramirez said through a translator in a post-fight interview. “This is a new history that I’m writing.”

Ramirez, a decorated Cuban amateur, won the belt that was vacated by Emanuel Navarrete when he moved up to junior lightweight.

Ramirez (12-1, 7 KOs) appeared to take control of Saturday’s fight in the middle rounds. At 5-foot-5, he used his significant height and reach advantages to land punches from the outside and keep the 5-foot-2 Dogboe at bay.

Between the fifth and seventh rounds, Ramirez landed 37.3% of his total punches, according to CompuBox. Of the 56 shots he landed during that span, 12 of those were jabs from his southpaw stance.

The 29-year-old Cuban credited the gameplan from his trainer for his success.

“All it took was me listening to this genius, Ismael Salas,” Ramirez said. “I did that, and it took me to victory.”

The 12th round saw Ramirez stamp his status as a champion. After Dogboe spent the previous rounds trying to find a way to close the gap, Ramirez scored a knockdown when he landed a cuffing uppercut while Dogboe was off-balance.

The in-ring ruling was upheld by replay review, which is part of the protocols in Oklahoma. Afterward, Dogboe (24-3, 15 KOs) took exception to the knockdown and contended it was a slip.

“Robeisy Ramirez is a terrific fighter, but the result is bulls—,” Dogboe said in his ESPN post-fight interview. “That knockdown was no knockdown.”

Dogboe was trying to become a two-division champion. He previously held the WBO’s junior featherweight title until he lost it to Navarrete in 2018. Before Saturday’s loss to Ramirez, Dogboe’s other two losses were to Navarrete, who also held a sizable reach advantage.

Dogboe, a Ghanaian who is based out of England, tried to press the tempo throughout the fight. He threw more punches than Ramirez in all but the ninth round. But the judges favored Ramirez’s accuracy over Dogboe’s output.

“I disagree with how wide the margin was in the score,” said Barry Hunter, Dogboe’s trainer. “But nevertheless, it was a heated fight. It was a spirited fight. We definitely believe we’d like to see that fight again.”

That might not be a realistic option as Ramirez seeks to make bigger fights, including potential unification bouts. In his postfight interview, Ramirez mentioned Joet Gonzalez, who won on Saturday’s undercard, and IBF champion Luis Alberto Lopez, who is facing popular Irish contender Michael Conlan in May.

“Whoever they put in front of me, I want all the great fights,” Ramirez said.