Ramos v. Rigo

Ramos-Rigondeaux coming soon

Newly crowned junior featherweight titlist Rico Ramos probably won't have a lot of time to enjoy his belt before he must face what figures to be a very tough mandatory fight against interim titlist Guillermo Rigondeaux.

Ramos (20-0, 11 KOs) won the 122-pound belt when, trailing widely on all three scorecards, he scored a one-punch knockout of Japan's Akifumi Shimoda (23-3-1, 10 KOs) in the seventh round last Saturday in Atlantic City, N.J., in his HBO debut. Part of the deal Rigondeaux (8-0, 6 KOs), the two-time Cuban Olympic gold medalist, worked out to allow Ramos-Shimoda to take place was that the winner would be contractually obligated to face him in his first defense.

"I stepped aside and let the fight go ahead, even though they ignored the fact that I was next in line," Rigondeaux said. "Ramos will soon regret that he won the title when we get it on. Ramos is a tough, aggressive fighter, but those types of fighters suit me. I promise he will not have enough time to enjoy this victory, because I will be taking that belt from him when we meet in the ring. My goal is to be the undisputed 122-pound world champion and I want to achieve this goal by the end of 2012."

Rigondeaux, considered one of the greatest amateurs ever, won an interim belt in only his seventh professional bout.

Rigondeaux was going to fight a nontitle bout on the season finale of ESPN2/ESPN3's "Friday Night Fights" on Aug. 19, but co-promoter Luis DeCubas Sr. could not secure a site that made financial sense. There is a slim possibility that Rigondeaux may instead fight on the Aug. 12 edition of FNF.