Robeisy Ramirez reportedly suffered a bilateral fracture in his right orbital bone in last night’s rematch with Rafael Espinoza, Salvador Rodriguez reports.
Ramirez (14-3, 9 KO) pulled himself from the fight early in round six, losing for a second time to Espinoza (26-0, 22 KO) and failing to regain the WBO featherweight title with the defeat.
Post-fight, Ramirez told ESPN’s Bernardo Osuna that Espinoza had injured him with elbows during the bout, and that he felt as though referee Chris Flores was not doing an adequate job protecting him from the fouls, so he simply decided enough was enough.
An orbital injury isn’t necessarily the end of anyone’s career, but anything around the eye is obviously a major problem for a professional boxer. Ramirez is 30, he would like to have many more years in his career, and however a boxing fan might feel about it at home — or however one of the controversy-addicted TV “analysts” might see it — Ramirez made the call for himself, said he was OK with the decision, and it’s clear he did have a serious injury that was not going to be improved by more punches, or fouls.
Either way, Espinoza will go on and look to defend his title further in 2025, and Ramirez will return with options, too.