Photo by Hogan Photos/Golden Boy Promotions
On Saturday, June 4, 2016, Abraham Lopez (20-0-1, 15 KOs) scored a ten-round unanimous decision victory against Julian Ramirez (16-0, 8 KOs) for the vacant NABA Featherweight title at the StubHub Center in Carson, CA.
The fight was the co-main event of Vargas-Salido, and was televised on HBO’s Boxing After Dark in the U.S.
In a battle of two undefeated Featherweights, both men had a lot on the line. The winner of this fight, it was assumed, would be on to bigger and better things in the division, while the loser would have to go back to the drawing board.
In the opening rounds, though landing hard shots of his own, Lopez seemed to be overwhelmed by Ramirez’s aggression and his punch output. Lopez, a native of La Puenta, CA, did land shots to the body all night, which might be what eventually helped him in the later rounds.
Ramirez, a native of East Los Angeles, Caljfornia, landed hard shots on the inside in Rounds 3 and 4. Ramirez, with his straight left hand and his right hook, had the advantage at close range, often landing shots as Lopez pulled straight back after exchanges.
However, in Round 6, two things seemed to happen: Lopez began boxing more successfully and Ramirez seemed to throw fewer and fewer punches.
Indeed, as he began circling both ways, Lopez found his right hand and his left hand more often, turning Ramirez as his back got closer to the ropes.
While Lopez was busy boxing, Ramirez threw fewer punches, which was perhaps caused by Lopez’s body work.
The judges scored the fight 97-93, 98-92, 97-98–all for Lopez. RBRBoxing.com had it 96-94 for Lopez.
“It was a close fight, my respects for Julian he definitely is a hard puncher,” said Lopez.
“But I’m not hurt, I was able to counter the punches he came at me with,” said Lopez, who will soon be–if he already isn’t–in the top ten on the division.
Ramirez also noted the toughness of his opponent.
“This was a really tough fight,” said amirez. “I knew he would be a tough opponent, and that’s what I trained hard for. I know that he won some rounds, but I thought that I did very well out there. And I thought that I had a very good shot at winning this. I feel that the decision should have been much closer. But it is what it is, and that’s boxing.”
There is some controversy about the decision, and even the HBO commentators had the fight for Ramirez. Nevertheless, despite different outcomes, both still have a great future ahead of themselves.
Check out highlights from the fight below:
