He won’t say it. But I will.
Robeisy Ramirez is going to fight Naoya Inoue someday.
And he’s going to beat him.
Because he’s smart enough. He’s tricky enough. And doggone it, fans will like him.
But first things first.
The newly minted WBO featherweight champ will stoke the fires for the down-the-road showdown with an appearance on the undercard of Inoue’s 122-pound unification with Stephen Fulton.
There, in Tokyo, he’ll face local hero Satoshi Shimizu, who’s ranked 12th by the WBO and has scored all but one of his career victories by KO.
None of those victories have come outside of Japan and none have been at the expense of a widely recognized foe, but the 37-year-old – who competed at the 2008 Olympics, earned a bronze medal at the 2012 Games, and turned pro after failing to qualify in 2016 – does present some physical challenges.
Shimizu stands 5-foot-11 and has a reach just beyond 71 inches, which gives him significant advantages over Ramirez, who is a half-foot shorter with a more featherweight-like 68-inch wingspan.
And while Ramirez has stopped better than 50 percent of his foes, the Cuban is apparently far more reliant on ring IQ and trickiness than his Japanese opponent with the 91 percent KO rate, who’s gone beyond eight rounds just once.
“Becoming world champion was a big leap in my quest to be considered the world’s top featherweight and eventually becoming a consensus pound-for-pound fighter,” Ramirez said. “My battle against the tough and experienced Shimizu will be another important stop in my journey.”
As for that journey, let’s just say it’s gotten better after a bad start.
A few no doubt stopped believing in Ramirez after a surprise split loss to an anonymous journeyman in his pro debut in 2019, but the comprehensive subtlety and guile he showed while winning his title against bona fide world class operator Isaac Dogboe in April more than erased any remaining distaste.
He’s avenged the defeat. He’s become a champion. And though the term has been diluted beyond recognition these days – easily the most damaging of the sport’s myriad self-inflicted wounds – he’s already as deserving as any of the other three claimants at featherweight and seems sure to rise.
Though his frame and reach don’t stack up so well alongside belt-holders at 130 pounds, his skill set would create a fascinating matchup with former 126-pound king Emanuel Navarrete – and an obvious long-term carrot still dangles in the form of ex-amateur rival Shakur Stevenson, whom Ramirez defeated for gold at the 2016 Olympics.
But if Stevenson is too far gone weight-wise and Ramirez is more inclined to till featherweight ground for the time being, he’s well-positioned to welcome Inoue into his neighborhood assuming the “Monster” gets by Fulton and ultimately finishes his other belt-securing business at 122.
Ramirez is promoted by Top Rank. Inoue is co-promoted by Top Rank. And now that they’re appearing in separate bouts on the same card, it’s a natural progression to have them headline together one day.
If nothing else, Ramirez seems excited by the prospect of performing as a pro in Asia.
He’s already worked the back rooms of Fresno and Tulsa in the U.S., played the bigger stages in Las Vegas and New York, and did a European star turn with a 2022 trip to Scotland.
And that was after life as a globe-trotting amateur yielded Olympic gold in London and Rio de Janeiro, and regional titles in Mexico, Singapore, and Azerbaijan.
He began training for the Shimizu fight in Las Vegas before moving the camp to Japan.
“I fulfilled my cherished goal of becoming world featherweight champion,” Ramirez said.
“The time has now come for the first defense of my title, and I couldn’t be happier or more honored for it to be in Tokyo, Japan, in front of a sold-out arena. I’m looking forward not only to the fight, but also experiencing all that this beautiful country has to offer with its passionate boxing fans, its vibrant culture and rich history, among so many other things.”
Assuming he beats Fulton and wins the WBC and WBO belts at 122, Inoue may continue to pursue his goal of a second four-belt reign by securing a match with IBF/WBA champion Marlon Tapales.
Tapales, who won his titles with a surprise split decision over Murodjon Akhmadaliev in April, has already received permission from the WBA to go straight into a unification bout with the Inoue-Fulton winner for what the Mexico-based group called “the sake of boxing.”
Inoue became a champion in his third weight class while at bantamweight, where he ultimately secured all four title belts. If he wins a title at 122, he’ll become the second Japanese fighter to be a four-weight champion. And if he wins all four, he’ll be the first two-division undisputed claimant of the era.
No less an authority than Top Rank czar Bob Arum told Lance Pugmire that Inoue is “the best fighter I’ve seen in years in person” and “has the ability to be as popular as Manny Pacquiao was.”
You might be right, Bob. You might be right.
But he’s got to go through “El Tren” first. And it says here he won’t.
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This week’s title-fight schedule:
No title fights scheduled.
Last week’s picks: None
2023 picks record: 23-9 (71.9 percent)
Overall picks record: 1,273-417 (75.3 percent)
NOTE: Fights previewed are only those involving a sanctioning body’s full-fledged title-holder – no interim, diamond, silver, etc. Fights for WBA “world championships” are only included if no “super champion” exists in the weight class.
Lyle Fitzsimmons has covered professional boxing since 1995 and written a weekly column for Boxing Scene since 2008. He is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter – @fitzbitz.