PROFESSIONAL featherweights beware. Cuban amateur sensation Robeisy Ramirez is turning over.
The 25-year-old has signed a deal with promotional giants Top Rank, and will make his debut this summer.
Regarded as one of the top pound-for-pound amateurs in the world, Ramirez picked up gold medals at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. In July last year, during a training camp in Mexico, the highly skilled southpaw left the Cuban boxing team, which proved to be a prelude to defecting from his home nation and entering the pro game.
Ramirez, who resides in Gulfport, Florida, will train in the state under Rob Mendez at St. Pete Boxing Club in St. Petersburg – the same gym which WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman calls home.
Two potential future rivals of Ramirez are standout 126lb prospects Michael Conlan and Shakur Stevenson, who are both promoted by Top Rank, too. Ramirez holds high-profile amateur victories over each of them.
At the 2012 Olympics, Ramirez outpointed Conlan in the flyweight semi-finals. Four years later at the 2016 Games, he defeated Stevenson in the final of the bantamweight bracket.
Following his move into the paid ranks, Ramirez is determined to replicate the success he achieved in the unpaid code.
“I’m thrilled to begin my professional career with Top Rank,” he said. “This moment is the result of all the hard work, dedication and sacrifice I have made since my days as an amateur boxer in Cuba. I look forward to continuing the successes I had at the amateur level in the professionals. And my fighting style will keep the fans entertained.”
