Fresno Fight Night will feature a unique partnership between one of boxing’s pound-for-pound queens and the Central Valley’s fighting pride.
Previous bound together 140-pound title holder Jose Ramirez will meet previous lightweight best on the planet Richard “RC” Commey in the 12-round junior welterweight headliner Saturday, Walk 25, at Save Shop Center in Fresno, California.
WHAT TIME IS RAMIREZ COMMEY?
Date: Saturday, March 25
Main card: 10 p.m. ET / 3 a.m. GMT (4 a.m. BST) USA:
Live on ESPN+ while UK fans can watch the fight on Sky Sports.
The fight will take place at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California.
Main event ringwalks (approx): 12 a.m. ET / 5 a.m. GMT (6 a.m. BST)
The main card is set to get underway at 10 p.m. ET / 3 a.m. GMT (4 a.m. BST) with the main event ringwalks scheduled for 12 a.m. ET / 5 a.m. GMT (6 a.m. BST).
Seniesa “Super Bad” Estrada, who holds the WBA minimumweight world title, will face Tina Rupprecht, who holds the WBC world title, in the co-feature.
At 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, Ramirez-Commey and Estrada-Rupprecht will be broadcast live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+.
Tickets for the event, which is being promoted by Top Rank in conjunction with DiBella Entertainment, will go on sale on Friday, January 13 at 10 a.m. PT. They will cost $29 and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com and the Arena Box Office.
The Save Mart Center, which has hosted Ramirez (27-1, 17 KOs) in six of his previous bouts, welcomes him back to his native Avenal, California, where he has been training for the past year. Ramirez bounced back in March of last year with a unanimous decision victory over Jose Pedraza, a former two-weight world champion, after losing by decision to Josh Taylor for the undisputed junior welterweight title in 2021. Since he defeated Amir Imam to win the WBC world title in March 2018, he ranks among the best 140-pounders in the sport. Ramirez stopped Maurice Hooker in six brutal rounds to unify the WBC and WBO titles after twice defending that title. In August 2020, Ramirez defeated Viktor Postol by majority decision, securing both belts and preparing for the Taylor matchup.
Ramirez stated, “I am blessed to be able to fight in front of my Central Valley fans once again.” Fresno and the Save Mart Center “hold a special place in my heart.” Richard Commey is a champion fighter who stands to gain everything. On March 25, I anticipate Commey in its best form. I am more motivated than ever to demonstrate that I am the best junior welterweight in the world, and my objective is to become champion once more.
Rick Mirigian, Ramirez’s manager, stated, “Ramirez is out to prove some things, and he is motivated like I have never seen.” Everything begins in Fresno before 15,000 old neighborhood fans.”
Accra, Ghana’s Commey (30-4-1, 27 knockouts) established himself as one of the sport’s best lightweights by winning Commonwealth titles and winning the IBF world title in February 2019. He won the title for ten months after defeating former world champion Ray Beltran and then shockingly losing to Teofimo Lopez in the second round at Madison Square Garden. Commey’s lightweight career came to an end in December 2021 when he lost by decision to Vasiliy Lomachenko. He fought Pedraza to a 10-round draw in his junior welterweight debut in August of that year.
Commey said, “I need to thank my group for putting me on the way to satisfying my fantasy about turning into a two-weight best on the planet. Additionally, I would like to express my gratitude to Top Rank and Bob Arum for permitting me to headline against Jose Ramirez, a formidable opponent, once more demonstrating their trust in me. I’m ready for the challenge and plan to make Ghana and all of my fans proud.
Estrada (23-0, 9 KOs), from East Los Angeles, California, gets back to her home state purpose on binding together world titles without precedent for her finished profession. The veteran, who is now 30, became a professional nearly a decade ago and has competed at the highest level in three weight classes. She won consecutive bouts in 2021 to win the WBA minimumweight and WBO light flyweight titles. After that, Estrada gave up the light flyweight championship to fight for undisputed glory at minimumweight. In November of last year, she returned from a nearly 11-month layoff to eliminate Jazmin Gala Villarino.
Estrada stated, “I want to give Tina credit for being a world champion who, unlike Yokasta Valle, is not afraid of a unification fight.” We decided to fight the woman who beat Yokasta because we couldn’t get Yokasta into the ring. The Fresno fans have a lot of passion, so they can expect a great show.
After rising from interim champion in 2018, Germany’s Rupprecht (12-0-1, 3 KOs) has defended her world title five times. Prior that year, she brought down Valle, who is the ongoing IBF and WBO bound together minimumweight title holder In July 2021, Rupprecht edged previous best on the planet Katia Gutierrez by split choice. She conquered Peruvian veteran Rocio Gaspar to set up the Estrada match after returning to the ring after more than a year. Rupprecht has fought all but one of her professional fights in Germany, and she will travel nearly 6,000 miles to defeat Estrada’s undisputed objective.
Rupprecht stated, “It is a dream come true for me to fight in America against a fellow world champion in a world title unification.” Seniesa is regarded as one of the sport’s best fighters, and I am eager to determine who is the division’s true number one. Another big night for female boxing and a contender for Fight of the Year will be this one. I’ll come out on top and bring two world titles with me back to Germany.
The following standouts are expected to be on the undercard, which will be exclusively streamed live on ESPN+:
Lightweight competitor Raymond “Risk” Muratalla (16-0, 13 KOs), from Fontana, California, and prepared by Robert Garcia, makes his 2023 presentation in a 10-rounder. In 2022, Muratalla went 3-0, including stoppage victories over Jeremy Hill and Miguel Contreras, two veterans.
In an eight-round bout, rising lightweight Karlos Balderas (14-1, 12 KOs), a Santa Maria, California, native who competed for the United States at the 2016 Olympics, hopes to record his sixth victory in a row. Balderas defeated Esteban Sanchez in an eighth-round TKO, a career-best performance that set a career high.
Antonio “El Gigante” Mireles (6-0, 6 KOs), a 6-foot-9 heavyweight from Des Moines, Iowa, goes for the gold seven in a six-rounder. Mireles has three knockouts in the first round and three stoppages in the second.
The former U.S. amateur star from Brisbane, California, lightweight prospect Charlie Sheehy (5-0, 4 KOs) makes his third professional fight in a six-round bout in Fresno.
In a six-round middleweight bout, Javier “Milwaukee Made” Martinez (8-0, 2 KOs), who trains with Ramirez at Robert Garcia Boxing Academy, will take on an unidentified opponent.
In his first fight in the United States, California’s flyweight prospect Jessie James Guerrero (3-0-1, 3 KOs) will compete in a four-round contest.
RAMIREZ VS. COMMEY CARD
Jose Ramirez vs. Richard Commey; Super lightweight
Seniesa Estrada vs. Tina Rupprecht; WBA and WBC women’s strawweight title unification
Raymond Muratalla vs. Humberto Galindo; Lightweight
Antonio Mireles vs. Patrick Mailata; Heavyweight
Charlie Sheehy vs. Angel Rebollar; Lightweight
Jessie James Guerrero vs. Eduardo Alvarez; Flyweight
Subaru Murata vs. Jose Negrete; Super bantamweight
Ricardo Ruvalcaba vs. Marco Cardenas; Super lightweight
