Cuban Robeisy Loses Title to Mexican Espinoza

December 13, 2023

In one of the best fights of the year, "El Divino" takes the featherweight world crown, but there will be a rematch.

Mexican Rafael "El Divino" Espinoza pulled off the big upset and stripped Cuban Robeisy "El Tren" Ramírez of the featherweight world title Saturday night at the Charles F. Dodge City Center in Pembroke Pines, Florida.

It was a majority decision: they tied at 113, and then the two remaining judges' scorecards both favored the Mexican 114-112.

The result was fair. Many said it was a tremendous upset, but that's not entirely true. Espinoza arrived with a record of 18 KOs and now improved his undefeated record to 22 fights.

Robeisy, for his part, suffered his second professional loss and now has a record of 13-2, 8 KOs.

The Cuban was so disappointed that when the fight ended he rushed off to the locker room. It must have hurt him greatly to lose in front of his crowd, in his first appearance in the Miami area.

The Mexican, on the other hand, ended with tears in his eyes.

"This is what I wanted," he said alongside a handful of countrymen. "Everything happened to me, first they delayed giving me the visa to enter the United States, then I missed two flights and I only just made it to Miami on Wednesday. I couldn't let this opportunity slip away, one I had been searching for so hard to get here."

Espinoza announced that on Sunday he will travel to his homeland, La Palma de Michoacán, to give thanks to the "Divine Face," which is the saint of his town.

At 29 years old, Saturday's fight was his first world title fight. And he was willing to leave everything on the line. After the victory he limped out of the ring.

"In the second round I felt I broke my foot," Espinoza said. "But I decided to keep going and keep going."

That determination of the Mexican, and Robeisy's attitude to satisfy his crowd that never stopped shouting "Cuba, Cuba, Cuba" throughout the entire fight were key to seeing a high-caliber clash, relentless, in which two gladiators had the conviction to fight until the last moment to achieve their objective.

Of the approximately 3,000 people who filled the arena, almost 60 percent were Cuban and the rest from Puerto Rico, Mexico, and fans from different countries who love boxing.

It was an electrifying fight and will surely be selected as one of the best of the year.

It wasn't just a fight bell to bell. In several rounds, Robeisy and Espinoza continued hitting each other even after the bell had sounded.

From the start it was a relentless fight, and the strategy was more or less what was expected. The Cuban tried to take the initiative and the Mexican set the distance with his jab.

Robeisy protected himself upstairs, because that's where the Mexican directed his attacks due to his greater height. It was harder for him to punish downstairs, and the Cuban crouched to take advantage of the slightest opening from his rival and throw the left or right.

The first three rounds were dominated by Espinoza, but in the fourth round Robeisy was finding a way to balance the fight and regain ground.

In the fifth round, with a left hook, Robeisy knocked Espinoza to the canvas. The Mexican got up and immediately grabbed the ropes to avoid falling and seemed to be groggy. After the referee's count, the Cuban returned to the attack to finish the fight and at that instant the bell saved the Mexican.

The sixth round was terrible. The exchange of blows was deadly. At one moment Robeisy slipped, but got up immediately, there was no referee's count and he continued punching.

The proceedings continued with great intensity, but the 12th and final round was decisive in the result. There Espinoza hit Robeisy hard, who fell to the canvas. The referee counted eight seconds and the Cuban said he would keep fighting. He immediately clung to his rival and survived on his feet until the final sound of the bell. But the referees were left with the impression of that last moment and chose to give the crown to "El Divino."