Abel Ramos was in the room when the call came.
Like the rest of Team Ramos, he was pleasantly surprised to learn that unbeaten junior middleweight prospect Joey Spencer wanted to fight his nephew, Jesus, on the David Benavidez-Caleb Plant undercard Saturday night. Though the welterweight contender obviously favors his nephew, he applauded both boxers for taking this type of risk at similar stages of their careers.
“It says a lot about him and my nephew that they took this fight,” Abel Ramos, who will also fight on the Benavidez-Plant undercard, told BoxingScene.com. “I believe my nephew has the qualities to beat him. And I think it should be an interesting fight, man. I just think my nephew is gonna maybe stop him.”
Jesus Ramos has displayed power in nearly five years as a pro. The younger Ramos, who is 19-0 and has recorded 15 knockouts, will oppose Spencer (16-0, 10 KOs), of Fenton, Michigan, in the 10-round co-feature before Benavidez and Plant square off in the main event of a four-fight Showtime Pay-Per-View telecast at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas (9 p.m. ET; $74.99).
Whoever wins between Ramos, 22, and Spencer, who will turn 23 on Friday, Abel Ramos hopes that they have encouraged some of their contemporaries to take tougher fights. He has fought numerous champions and contenders in the junior welterweight and welterweight divisions during his 11-year professional career and remains in title contention despite that he has five losses and two draws on his record.
“That’s what we need in boxing, man,” Abel Ramos said. “A lot of fighters don’t wanna take risks like that. But this is how you grow. Whatever happens in this fight, they’re still young. They can bounce back for sure.”
Abel Ramos has his own difficult fight scheduled for Saturday night. His 12-round WBC welterweight elimination match against undefeated Canadian southpaw Cody Crowley will open the pay-per-view portion of the card.
Unless their fight results in a draw or no-contest, Abel Ramos (27-5-2, 21 KOs) or Crowley (21-0, 9 KOs) will advance toward facing the winner of an interim championship match the WBC ordered last week in which Cuba’s Yordenis Ugas (27-5, 12 KOs) will battle San Antonio’s Mario Barrios (27-2, 18 KOs).
Training for fights on the same card has been beneficial for Abel Ramos and Jesus Ramos, who prepare at Ramos Boxing Academy in their hometown of Casa Grande, Arizona, about 50 miles south of Phoenix.
“It’s been great, man, because we have the same date for training, so we’re training at the same speed,” Abel Ramos said. “You know, we motivate each other and just days when camp gets hard, I see him working hard and I take a step up. It’s been crazy, man. The whole team is just laser-focused on one date.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.