Julian Ramirez Dominates Chris Martin at Belasco in Downtown L.A.

Julian Ramirez Dominates Chris Martin – Julian “El Camaron” Ramirez couldn’t make the weight to fight for a placement title but still had more than enough in the tank to dominate veteran Chris “San Diego Kid” Martin in their featherweight fight on Friday.

“I didn’t make the weight but I still won,” said Ramirez.

Ramirez (16-0, 8 KOs) was supposed to fight Martin (28-7-3, 9 KOs) for the WBC Youth featherweight title but was 1.7 pounds over the 126-pound limit. Instead, the sold out crowd at Belasco Theater saw the East Los Angeles boxer with pedigree dominate the 10-round affair.

The southpaw whose uncles are famed trainer Rudy Hernandez and the late, great Genaro “Chicanito” Hernandez showed off the family boxing skills. It seemed Martin was stuck in neutral for most of the fight. Only on occasion could the San Diego boxer step into gear.

Ramirez seemed to be fighting in a different speed than Martin who was not able to find the target. It was not the case with Ramirez who pummeled the San Diego veteran and seldom saw anything in return.

Martin was nearly felled with some body shots in the sixth round and it looked like the end. But he suddenly mounted a rally and had Ramirez on his heels. But the rally didn’t last.

The rest of the fight saw Ramirez continue to do whatever he wished. Martin finally had a good three minutes in the eighth round when he connected with several right hands. But some nasty right uppercuts in the final two rounds returned the momentum to Ramirez. One judge saw it 100-90 and the other two saw it 99-91, all for Ramirez.

“He fought well,” said Ramirez who along with Edgar Valerio is managed by Joel De La Hoya. “I couldn’t knock him out but he fought well.”

Ramirez was slightly upset about not making the weight but satisfied with the win.

Other bouts

Abraham Lopez (20-0-1, 15 KOs) was rocked early by Puerto Rico’s Carlos Valcarcel (14-7-4, 5 KOs) in the first round, but after that, he slowly took over and dominated with a body attack. Lopez won by knockout at the end of the seventh round following several body crunching blows to Valcarcel who surrendered in the featherweight fight.

“He’s a good fighter but we prepared to win,” said Lopez. “We did it little by little.”

Edgar Valerio (5-0, 3 KOs) didn’t waste time and used his long reach and height to stop Michigan’s Justin Lopez (5-5, 5 KOs) at 2:40 of the second round. It had been nearly two years since Valerio was in the boxing ring and he didn’t waste time as he looked like Tommy Hearns with that tall, rail thin body and long arms pumping punches. Lopez just couldn’t seem to get out of the way of the long arms of Valerio who knocked him down with a left hook early. When the fight continued Valerio unleashed a three-punch combination that saw all of the blows connect. Referee Jerry Cantu immediately stopped the fight.

“I was told to work the uppercut and right hand, the Tommy Hearns right hand,” said Valerio who had a six-inch height advantage in the featherweight contest. “They were telling me to utilize my gift from God the jab.”

In a bantamweight fight Joshua Franco (4-0) won a hard-fought win by unanimous decision over Arizona’s taller Juan Benavides (5-7-1). Though San Antonio’s Franco won every round according to the judges, each round was a struggle as Benavides took the fight inside and continually wrapped his arms around Franco like a boa constrictor. The judges scored the six round fight 60-54 for Franco.

“I’m tired. He was an awkward guy,” said Franco. “He knows his tricks.”

The battle between Mexican-American Pablo Rubio (4-0) and Puerto Rico’s Bryan Perez (2-3-1) did not materialize into the usual expected war when these two nationalities collide. Instead, the war between rangy bantamweights was won by Rubio who used an effective body attack to open up the holes in Perez’s defense. A swarm of punches by Rubio ended the fight at 1:15 of the second round for a knockout win for the Whittier fighter.

“He had the big old swing on that left hook,” said Rubio. “He got a little bit open.”

In the walkout bout, 19-year-old Jonathan Navarro knocked out 32-year-old war horse Carlos Rodriguez with a body shot at the 49 second mark of the second round in a six-round welterweight contest.

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