By Jake Donovan

Super bantamweight prospect Rico Ramos took the biggest step of his young career, scoring a competitive but clear unanimous decision over former title challenger Alejandro Valdez on Friday evening at on Friday night at Bally’s in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Scores were 97-93 (twice) and 98-92 in favor of Ramos, who advances to 19-0 (10KO).

It was never easy for Ramos, and at times not very pretty for the undefeated Californian. Valdez’ mission for the evening was to test the heart of the rising young star, remaining in his face early on in hopes of forcing an alley fight.

Ramos would eventually prove a willing participant, but not before testing the waters. As Valdez pressed, Ramos circled the ring and did his best to box from the outside. The strategy was employed for a couple of rounds, producing mixed results as Valdez enjoyed his best moments when he was able to cut off the ring and target the body.

The pulse of the fight briefly changed in the third round, when Ramos opted to stand his ground and fight back. An overhand right snapped back Valdez’ head, but was the only anxious moment of the round as Ramos quickly reverted back to sticking and moving.

Sensing the worst was over, Valdez went on the attack in the fourth, bullrushing Ramos and forcing him into a corner. Both fighters put their jabs to use, but it was Valdez throwing more often and momentarily controlling the tempo. Ramos struggled with the veteran’s aggression, clinching whenever the going got rough, but failing to land anything of significance in return.

Ramos recovered well enough to outbox Valdez in the fifth and sixth to avoid falling in a hole on the scorecards. A rather lackluster sixth round was followed up by plenty of two-way action in the seventh, as Valdez followed his corner’s instructions to take charge.

By the eighth round, it was evident that Valdez was going to spend the rest of his time trying to inflict as much pain as possible, while Ramos was going to do his best to box and avoid a dogfight. Valdez’ aggression appeared to define the eighth, as Ramos was reluctant to engage at any point in the round.

The ninth round marked uncharted territory for Ramos, fighting in just his second scheduled 10-round bout but never having previously fought beyond the eighth round. The Californian didn’t seem bothered or affected by the experience, in fact putting in some of his best work of the night in a ninth round that perhaps sealed the deal and kept him unbeaten.

Valdez’ corner realized as much, telling the fighter that he let the fight slip away from him as they prepared to come out for the 10th and final round. It didn’t get off to a memorable start, as a clash of heads left Ramos on all fours before time was called to have a ringside physician examine a cut over his left eye produced by the aforementioned sequence.

Action resumed, but was hardly engaging. Valdez struggled to close the gap and was met with a clinch whenever he ddi. Ramos bit down late in the round, landing with power shots on the inside when it became clear that Valdez wasn’t going away quietly. The two traded down the stretch, with Valdez getting in one last shot a second or two after the bell to end the fight.

It wasn’t enough to reverse his luck, as Valdez falls to 23-5-3 (17KO). The two-time title challenger is now 3-3-1 in his last seven fights, though the one draw should be a career-defining win over Fernando Montiel in their controversial September 2009 fight that saw both fighters hit the deck and the Mexican Boxing commission steal a win from him.

 

Donovan “Don Da Bomb” George bounced back from his first and only loss in a very big way, bombing out previously unbeaten Cornelius White in a televised co-feature that never made it out of the opening round.

George scored three knockdowns before referee Randy Neumann stepped in to wave off the contest, at 2:02 of the first round.

The matchup of noted punchers began as a feeling out session, but it didn’t take long for George to take over. A right hand sent White crashing to the canvas for the bout’s first knockdown, barely a minute into the contest.

White arose inside of the mandatory eight count, but was on shaky legs and never fully recovered. George exploded, exclusively throwing head shots until the Houston native once again went down. A final right hand floored White for the third time, with the bout halted immediately thereafter.

For George, it’s the first fight and win since his career-worst performance against Francisco Sierra last summer. The Chicago-based super middleweight prospect improves to 21-1-1 (18KO) with his first win in nearly 10 months.

White suffers the first loss of his career, though coming against his first live opponent as he falls to 16-1 (15KO).


OFF-TV RESULTS



An IBF heavyweight eliminator saw Eddie Chambers (36-2, 18 KOs) win a twelve round unanimous decision over Derric Rossy (25-3, 14 KOs) in a rematch. The scores were 115-112, 117-110 and 120-107. Rossy went down in round six.



Junior middleweight contender Ricardo Williams Jr. (17-2, 10 KOs), a highly regarded member of the 2000 Olympic team, stopped veteran John Brown (24-19-2, 11 KOs) in the sixth and final round. Williams put Brown down twice in the sixth before the referee stepped in to stop the contest.



Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at twitter.com/JakeNDaBox or submit questions/comments to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.