The fighting pride of California’s Central Valley and one of the heavyweight boxing queens are teaming up for a special Fresno Fight Night.
Former unified 140-pound world champion Jose Ramirez will meet former lightweight world champion Richard “RC” Commey in the junior 12-round main event on Saturday, March 25, at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California.
The co-feature will be a world title unifying clash, as WBA minimalism world champion Seniesa “Super Bad” Estrada collides with WBC world champion Tina Rupprecht.
Ramirez-Commey and Estrada-Rupprecht will be broadcast live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.
Promoted by Top Rated, in association with DiBella Entertainment, tickets starting at $29 will go on sale Friday, January 13 at 10 a.m. PT and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com and Arena box office.
Ramirez (27-1, 17 KOs), from Avenal, California, returns home to the friendly space of the Save Mart Center, which has hosted six of his previous games. After a decisive 2021 defeat to Josh Taylor to claim the undisputed youth weight belt, Ramirez rebounded last March with a decisive victory over former two-division world champion Jose Pedraza. He’s one of the sport’s best 140-pound athletes since winning the WBC world title against Amir Imam in March 2018. After defending that title twice, Ramirez has stopped Maurice Hooker in six brutal rounds to unify the WBC and WBO titles. Ramirez won both belts with a tough majority decision against Viktor Postol in August 2020, a win that set up the showdown against Taylor.
“Fresno and the Save Mart Center hold a special place in my heart, and I am so lucky to be able to once again fight in front of my Central Valley fans,” Ramirez said. “Richard Commey is a champion boxer with everything to achieve. I look forward to Commey’s best version on March 25th. My goal is to be a champion again and I’m more motivated than ever to prove that I’m an outstanding young weightlifter. the best in the world.”
Rick Mirigian, Ramirez’s manager, said: “Ramirez is more motivated than ever, and he’s on the pitch to prove a few things. “It all started in Fresno in front of 15,000 home fans.”
Commey (30-4-1, 27 KOs), from Accra, Ghana, has made his name as one of the sport’s top lightweight athletes, winning Commonwealth titles before when he won the IBF world title in February 2019. His title reign lasted 10 months, when he knocked out former world champion Ray Beltran before a stunning second-half loss to Teofimo Lopez at Madison Square Garden. Commey’s lightweight division ended with a decisive December 2021 loss to Vasiliy Lomachenko. Last August, in his junior welterweight debut, he fought Pedraza for 10 rounds.
“I want to thank my team for putting me on the path to realizing my dream of becoming a two-weight world champion,” Commey said. I would also like to thank Bob Arum and Top Rank for once again showing their faith in me by allowing me to head off formidable opponent Jose Ramirez. I am up for this challenge and I intend to make Ghana and all my fans around the world proud.”
Estrada (23-0.9 KO), from East Los Angeles, California, returns to her home state with the intention of unifying the world titles for the first time in her illustrious career. The 30-year-old veteran boxer turned pro nearly a decade ago and has competed world-class in three weight classes. In 2021, she won the WBA and WBO lightweight min flyweight belts in consecutive bouts. Estrada then vacated the lightweight flyweight belt in pursuit of undisputed glory in the minweight division. She signed with Top Rank last year and returned from a nearly 11-month break in November to shut down Jazmin Gala Villarino.
“I want to acknowledge Tina for being a world champion who is not afraid of a unified fight, unlike Yokasta Valle,” Estrada said. “Since we couldn’t get Yokasta into the ring, we decided to do something better and fight the woman who hit her. The Fresno fans are crazy, and they’re going to put on a great show.”
Rupprecht (12-0-1, 3 KOs), from Augsburg, Germany, made five defenses of his world title after being lifted from interim champion in 2018. Earlier that year, she overthrew Valle, who is currently unifying IBF and WBO world champion minweight division. In July 2021, Rupprecht overcame former world champion Katia Gutierrez by split decision. After more than a year away from the ring, she shed the rust to dominate Peruvian veteran Rocio Gaspar to set up the Estrada match. Rupprecht has fought all but one of her professional bouts in Germany and will make the nearly 6,000-mile journey in hopes of destroying Estrada’s undisputed goal.
“Fighting in America against a fellow world champion in a world title unification was a dream come true for me,” said Rupprecht. “Seniesa is considered one of the best boxers in the sport, and I look forward to seeing who is the true number one in the sport. This will be the contender for Fight of the Year and another big night for women’s boxing. I will win and return to Germany with two world championship belts.”
The bottom half, live and exclusive on ESPN+, is slated to include the following highlights:
Lightweight competitor Raymond “Danger” Muratalla (16-0, 13 KOs), from Fontana, California, and coached by Robert Garcia, will debut in 2023 in the 10-round event. Muratalla won 3-0 in 2022, which included extra-time wins over veterans Jeremy Hill and Miguel Contreras.
Rising lightweight Karlos Balderas (14-1, 12 KOs), 2016 US Olympic athlete from Santa Maria, California, looks set to author a sixth straight eight-round win. Balderas was about to have the best display of his career against Esteban Sanchez, a methodical knockdown that led to a TKO in the eighth round.
Antonio “El Gigante” Mireles (6-0.6 KO), a 6-foot-9 heavyweight from Des Moines, Iowa, aimed for a number seven knockout in the sixth round. Mireles has three kills in round one and three stops in round two on her ledger.
Lightweight prospect Charlie Sheehy (5-0.4 KO), former US amateur star from Brisbane, California, made his third professional appearance in Fresno in the six-round event.
Javier “Milwaukee Made” Martinez (8-0, 2 KOs), who trains with Ramirez at the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy, will fight an opponent for the title in a six-round middleweight bout.
Flyweight prospect Jessie James Guerrero (3-0-1, 3 KOs), from Gilroy, California, will compete in four rounds on her US debut.
