Molina, Ramos help make Top Rank card in McAllen a success
Rio Grande Valley fighters Eric Molina of Lyford and Humberto "Tito" Ramos of Mission were winners on Saturday night’s Top Rank Boxing show at the new McAllen Convention Center, but each had a difficult outing.
The 6-foot-5, 211-pound Molina, a cruiserweight fighting as a heavyweight, pounded out a rugged six-round unanimous decision against portly Andrew Greeley, a 5-9, 250-pounder from Louisiana.
"I feel like I’m the people’s champion," said Molina (13-1, 10 knockouts). "When that guy rocked me with a shot in the third round, I heard all my people (fans), and I knew there was no way I was going to go down. I represent them, and they lift me up and give me strength."
Ramos (11-0, eight KOs), a welterweight, earned a narrow six-round split decision over Gilberto Elizondo of San Antonio. It was a close bout, but Ramos prevailed despite a nine-month gap since his last official fight. Even though he recently has served as a sparring partner for Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Diaz, his ring rust showed.
"Inactivity is the sin of boxing," Ramos said. "I can’t wait for my next fight."
"Yeah, ‘Tito’ was rusty," said James Gogue, Ramos’ trainer. "We’re going to keep him active now. This was ‘Tito’s’ first real opponent. He’d hit the other guys, and they’d go down. This guy didn’t go down. We’re going to find similar opponents for ‘Tito’ in the future to help him get better. Sparring the best fighters in the world doesn’t mean nothing until you prove yourself in the ring (during an actual fight)."
In Saturday’s Top Rank main event, Brandon Rios (24-0-1, 17 KOs) of Oxnard, Calif., captured the NABF lightweight title with a third-round technical knockout of Jorge Luis Teron (23-2-1, 15 KOs) of the Bronx, N.Y.
The event, attended by approximately 2,500 fight fans, was broadcast live internationally by Fox Sports Net and Fox Sports en Español.
UPCOMING
The next South Texas Fighting Championships event, dubbed "STFC 10: Annihilation," is set for Feb. 26 at the new McAllen Convention Center. The main event will feature Ricco "Suave" Rodriguez, a former UFC heavyweight champion, going against Patrick Miller.
A Julio Marines Promotions card is tentatively scheduled for March 6 in Harlingen. The show will be headlined by Brownsville bantamweight Sergio Perales (13-0, eight KOs) fighting in the main event and Weslaco light middleweight Roberto Garcia (27-2, 20 KOs) appearing in the co-main event.
Roy Hess writes for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him via e-mail at rhess@brownsvilleherald.com.
