Robeisy Ramirez was a two-time, two-weight Olympic gold medallist; but even to turn professional he faced an arduous, frightening journey to escape from Cuba; now he fights Isaac Dogboe for the WBO featherweight world title, live on Sky Sports in the early hours of Sunday morning
Saturday 1 April 2023 14:37, UK
When you are as good as Robeisy Ramirez is – an outstanding two-time, two-weight Olympic gold medallist – an eventual world title shot should be inevitable.
Yet for the brilliant Cuban it was anything but.
Just to turn professional Ramirez endured a terrifying flight from his national team, went into hiding and, when he lost his pro debut in a major upset, his career almost derailed before it got started.
But he has fought his way back and, in the early hours of Sunday morning live on Sky Sports, boxes Isaac Dogboe for the WBO featherweight world championship.
"I wrote an important chapter of my life with my amateur career. But the most important pages of that story are yet to be written and will be written as a professional fighter," Ramirez told Sky Sports.
"This is what every professional fighter aspires to, vying for and winning the world title. Definitely it's what a boxer dreams of. For me, I see it as a first and very important step to better and bigger things, more important fights, including unification fights down the line."
Cuba is a dominant force in Olympic boxing. But the regime does not allow its boxers to leave. It meant Ramirez had to escape from a training camp in Mexico and make the slow, perilous attempt to defect to America.
"That was a very difficult six months of my life. There was an element of fear, it was an arduous road to the US for the first time. I was in hiding then I moved," he said.
"At that point, believe it or not, I heard there was a drug cartel after me. It was very difficult. So I had to be in hiding for the most part. Then I started getting a little bit more comfortable and adapting.
"Finally made it to the US but in summary it was a very difficult time in my life, coping with so many changes, different culture and different place and just the element of uncertainty."
At the time losing his first pro fight to Adan Gonzales in 2019 was a huge upset.
The period in hiding, without training or sparring, plus the months of uncertainty when trying to find his way in the US contributed to that loss.
Ramirez said of that defeat: "This was nothing having to do with him. It was just me."
He did recover himself and he beat Gonzales when they boxed a second time in 2020.
"You saw the different levels of quality in terms of fighting, and it was proven in the rematch," he said.
"That was nice, winning and everything. It's not like I had a chip on my shoulder or something and I had to go out and fight him to avenge that defeat. It was really just another fight.
"I don't want to sound like I'm cold and don't care but really at the end of the day it was just another fighter on my resume. That the rematch happened was good but it was not something I needed."
That is because he had a confidence his true potential would shine through. It is doing so now. Last year he stopped all three of his opponents, Eric Donovan, Abraham Nova and Jose Matias Romero.
"I think all the elements are now finally there. You saw it last year with the three fights and three knockouts in impressive fashion, but I think you're still about to see the best Robeisy and the best version of myself. And I'm sure that Saturday is going to be the best Robeisy you've ever seen," he said.
He is inspired. "I'm very much motivated first and foremost for my family, my parents, who are facing incredible hardship in Cuba and all that is going on there politically, socially and otherwise. But despite that, they are always there for me, they're writing messages of support. So they serve as motivation," he added.
"My three daughters, they're always there and serve as a constant reminder of what's important for me and why I'm in this business."
Isaac Dogboe, however, has his own dream to pursue. He is a warrior, a strong aggressor who works with combinations of heavy punches. He lost his super-bantamweight title in a painful defeat to Emanuel Navarrete.
But he is the more experienced professional and after a second defeat to Navarrete moved up to featherweight, linked up with trainer Barry Hunter and has kept on finding ways to win, beating Chris Avalos, Adam Lopez, Christopher Diaz and Joet Gonzalez in his last four fights.
He will not hold back against Ramirez. "I'll give everything for it," Dogboe told Sky Sports. "They always write me off. But you know what, God always brings me up.
"I'm a fighting man. That's my job description. I ask you when and where and I'll meet you there. That's just the way it is. I never shy away from a challenge. I want to fight the best fighters out there.
"I want to be in one of the great fights. So when the historians are talking about professional boxing, super-bantamweights and featherweights, they'll mention my name as well."
Ramirez is skilful, but his style is aggressive too and he punches with power and precision.
"I'm not the type of fighter, despite my aggression in the ring, that goes out trying to get the knockout," Ramirez said.
"The difficulty of the fight will be determined by my own mistakes. Dogboe's mistakes will determine whether or not the knockout happens. But if it's there for the taking I will definitely do it. The minimum mistake he makes is going to be costly for him."
The Ghanaian, though, is undaunted. "Flaws, we do see a few. There's no perfect boxer in this world," Dogboe declared.
"But the most important thing right now is looking at how we're going to approach the fight. The most important thing is staying calm and just taking it one round at a time."
The style and technique of the two boxers should make for a great contest. Dogboe is certain he will be the hardest opponent Ramirez has faced so far as a professional. And a gruelling bout is something he would almost welcome.
"There's always a story to tell," he said. "It gives people something to talk about… I quite enjoy it.
"I'm never in a dull fight. It makes a great fight and like they say styles make fights. Who knows? We could go down as fight of the year."
Watch Robeisy Ramirez vs Isaac Dogboe live on Sky Sports Action at 2am on Sunday morning
