Pair of unbeaten 126-pound prospects pick up level of competition when they face off Tuesday, September 26 on FS1.
Unbeaten 126-pound prospect Leduan Barthelemy faces a stiff challenge in fellow unbeaten prospect Eduardo Ramirez on Tuesday, September 26. (Francisco Perez / Premier Boxing Champions)
The point at which Leduan Barthelemy and Eduardo Ramirez are meeting in their respective careers perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the widely popular PBC on FS1: Toe-to-Toe Tuesday boxing series.
It’s also the perfect opportunity for both to gauge just how close they are to their next major goal of fighting for a world title.
Their 10-round, 126-pound headliner, which airs live on September 26 from the Cannery Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on FS1 and Fox Deportes at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT, pits two unbeaten prospects who’ve never shied from taking tough challenges. The one that awaits each boxer appears to be the most dangerous, but both seem game for the cause.
“I come from a fighting family, but that’s not the limit of my boxing identity,” said Barthelemy (13-0, 7KOs), the youngest of three boxing brothers who serve as a bit of boxing royalty.
Yan Barthelemy captured a Gold medal for Cuba during the 2004 Athens Olympics, while Rances Barthelemy is an unbeaten former super featherweight and lightweight world champion with his sights set on a super lightweight crown.
Ramirez is a tall task for the 28-year-old Barthelemy, who now lives and trains in Las Vegas. Ramirez is a scrappy, well-schooled southpaw from Los Mochis, Mexico who’s yet to taste defeat. In fact, the 24-year old featherweight has already defeated three previously unbeaten opponents and salivates over the thought of what it would mean to upend Barthelemy.
“Fights like this are precisely why I made the moves I have in my career,” said Ramirez (20-0-2, 7KOs), who will make his U.S. debut with Tuesday’s main event.
Managed by Sampson Lewkowicz and trained by Manuel Montiel Jr.—whose brother Fernando is a five-time world champion—the crafty Mexican boxer has been thrown in tough his entire career. The first of two career draws came when he was just 18-years old, settling for a four-round split with Mario Muñoz, who was 9-0 at the time.
The bout marked one of four to date in which Ramirez has faced an unbeaten opponent.
“Leduan Barthelemy isn’t showing me anything I haven’t seen before,” Ramirez said. “My dream of winning a world title will come true and he’s not going to stand in my way. My team promised that they would deliver a world title fight when I signed with them (this past summer). All I have to do is keep winning and they will do the rest.”
“ I come from a fighting family, but that’s not the limit of my boxing identity. ” Unbeaten 126-pound prospect Leduan Barthelemy, brother of two-division world champion Rances Barthelemy
While this upcoming bout marks the first time Barthelemy faces an opponent who doesn’t know the feeling of in-ring defeat, he’s hardly a babe in the woods when it comes to embracing next-step fights. A regular on the FS1 circuit, he’s shown a variety of ways to emerge victorious in his young career, particularly in his past few fights.
Following hard-fought wins over Ricardo Nuñez and Jesus Aguinaga in his previous two encounters, Barthelemy decided to take it up a notch in his last bout. Reynaldo Blanco had never been stopped through 17 fights as a pro, but Barthelemy ended that in March.
It marked the first time in his career that Barthelemy had seen the ninth-round of any given prizefight, but it also served up what is possibly his best win to date. He took some licks from a determined Blanco early in the fight, but took full control of the contest soon thereafter and never looked back. Blanco’s corner eventually waved the surrender flag midway through round nine.
“I went into that fight looking to make a statement, and I delivered,” said Barthelemy. “(Blanco) may not have been unbeaten, but he was never stopped and had been in there with some really good opponents. I was determined to deliver a knockout, and never lost focus of my goal to prove that I’m the best featherweight prospect in the world.
“Now, I’m given another challenge to overcome and with a big reward with a win. Eduardo Ramirez is a world ranked contender who brings an undefeated record to the ring. This is a huge step up for me and I plan to show the world why I'm the top prospect in the featherweight division. A victory will catapult me to world title contention.”
For a complete look at Barthelemy vs Ramirez, visit our fight page.
