Ramos building reputation as solid sparring partner

Humberto "Tito" Ramos (10-0, seven knockouts) of Mission spent part of last summer in Los Angeles as a sparring partner for WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., who captured a 12-round unanimous decision over Juan Manuel Marquez on Sept. 19 in Las Vegas.

He did such a good job helping Mayweather that WBO light welterweight champion Juan Diaz (35-2, 17 KOs) of Houston decided to hire Ramos as a sparring partner for his rematch on HBO against Paul Malignaggi (25-3, five KOs) on Dec. 12 in Chicago.

Ramos said has spent three weeks in Houston helping Diaz prepare for his upcoming bout. He expects to be there for at least another week.

Ramos’ last fight was a first-round technical knockout of Jeremy Marts on May 9 at Brownsville Sports Park. He said his time since then as a sparring partner has been very beneficial.

"I’m just grateful for these opportunities and very thankful to my coach (James Gogue) for helping me get noticed," Ramos said. "I’ve been learning so much going against these guys. They’re the best of the best. It’s a level of boxing we don’t really see in the Valley. What I’m learning, I’ll be ready to take it into my next fight."

Gogue said Ramos is scheduled to fight in January in California on a Don Chargin card.

"Going against such world-class fighters is helping Tito develop his skills," Gogue said. "You measure yourself against them, and it helps you mentally because you know that you can hang in there with them, plus you’re earning some good money as well (as a sparring partner)."

Ramos said he is representing South Texas as a boxer.

"I’m not going to let the people of the Valley down," he said. "Even though I’m (originally) from Mexico, the people of the Valley have been supporting me, so I see them as my people, too, and I appreciate it. It means a lot to me."

UPCOMING

At this point, it doesn’t appear there are any boxing cards of note scheduled in the Valley for the remainder of 2009.

However, some Valley fighters have recently traveled to other locations for bouts, and others will be journeying elsewhere for fights in December.

Mission welterweight Raul Tovar (7-2-1, three KOs) wound up with a six-round draw against Javier Monserrate on Nov. 20 at Kissimmee, Fla.

Mission featherweight Guadalupe de Leon (7-9, four KOs) fights Wednesday in Philadelphia on the undercard of the Bernard Hopkins vs. Enrique Ornelas show.

Weslaco light welterweight Omar "Panterita" Figueroa (7-0, seven KOs) is scheduled to fight Dec. 12 in Chicago on the undercard of the Juan Diaz vs. Paul Malignaggi matchup. It will be Figueroa’s first official fight as a member of Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy team.

Light middleweight Carson Jones (23-7-1, 14 KOs) of Oklahoma isn’t a Valley fighter, but he trains with James Gogue in Edinburg. Jones will take on Tyrone Brunson (21-0-1, 20 KOs) Friday at Santa Ynez, Calif.

Roy Hess writes for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him via e-mail at rhess@brownsvilleherald.com.