VENEZUELAN southpaw Albert Ramirez is within touching distance of a light-heavyweight world title shot and this weekend heads to the unconventional location of Libya, in a bid to become the WBA Interim champion.
On Friday night, boxing heads to Benghazi, in the latest instalment of the WBA’s ‘KO Drugs’ initiative, where events are staged in developing countries “with the goal of using boxing as a tool or education, inclusion and drug prevention”.
Here, undefeated Albert Ramirez, 21-0 (18 KOs), collides with London-born Jerome Pampellone, 19-2 (12 KOs), in a bout to crown a WBA Interim champion and possible challenger for WBA (Regular) and WBC light-heavyweight titlist, David Benavidez.
One of the jewels of Eye of the Tiger Promotions, Rio 2016 Olympian Ramirez has proven his knockout power since turning over to the professional ranks, and regular activity has seen him rise to #3 in the WBA rankings.
The hard-hitting lefty now ups the level of his opposition in his toughest test to date and the 33-year-old will hope that he can become the first to halt the tough Pampellone, who hopes to make it third time lucky.
Pampellone moved from London to New Zealand at as a 10-year-old and went on to win three consecutive national amateur championships between 2018 and 2020, but turned professional after missing out on qualification for the Olympics in Tokyo.
‘The Panther’ has looked a level above his opposition in Australasia for the most part and has claimed the IBF Australasian title at both light-heavyweight and cruiserweight. Yet, when stepping up beyond domestic level, Pampellone has twice fell short.
Last year, the 29-year-old lost IBF eliminators to Malik Zinad and Conor Wallace by respective majority and split decisions and now opts for the WBA route, in what should prove to be a true acid test for Albert Ramirez, at the Martyrs of Benina Stadium.
Elsewhere on the bill, Mirco Cuello, 15-0 (12 KOs), and Sergio Rios, 19-0 (7 KOs), collide in a battle of undefeated super-featherweights, where the WBA Interim world title is up for grabs once again.
Meanwhile, Paris 2024 silver medallist Sofiane Oumiha, 6-0 (3 KOs), takes on Francisco Fonseca, 36-4-2 (29 KOs), whilst Cork-based Cuban cruiserweight Mike Perez, 31-3-1 (22 KOs), fights for the second time in as many months.
ALBERT RAMIREZ-JEROME PAMPELLONE FIGHT PREDICTION
Without doubt, this is Ramirez’s toughest opponent as a professional, in more ways than one – and a win inside the distance is sure to turn heads.
However, despite the power we have seen from Ramirez thus far, Pampellone is crafty and holds a shot well and Boxing News thinks this will go to the scorecards.
Nevertheless, we expect that Ramirez will do enough to come out on top in a scrappy encounter that ends in a unanimous decision win for the unbeaten favourite.
