PBC on ESPN Preview: Barrios vs. Boschiero, Ramirez vs. Roman
By: William Holmes
On Saturday night Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) series will be televised live on ESPN from the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, New Jersey.
UFC 200 is also being broadcast on Saturday, but the loss of Jon Jones may lead to more viewers for the free PBC card. It features two prospects with future world title aspirations. Mario Barrios will be competing against Devis Boschiero in an IBF Junior Lightweight eliminator and Eddie Ramirez will face Jessie Roman in the junior welterweight division.
Photo Credit: Jordan Hardy/Premier Boxing Champions
The following is a preview of both televised bouts.
Eddie Ramirez (13-0) vs. Jessie Roman (20-2); Junior Welterweights
Eddie Ramirez has been extremely busy and fought five times in 2015 and once already in 2016. He’s a former Chicago Golden Gloves Champion and was a runner up in the National Golden Gloves Tournament the same year.
His opponent, Jessie Roman, does not have the amateur accomplishments of Ramirez. He fought three times in 2015 and twice in 2014.
Ramirez, at the age of twenty four, is one year younger than Roman. He will also be giving up two inches in height and two inches in reach to his opponent. However, Ramirez has nine stoppage victories in only thirteen bouts while Roman has only nine stoppage victories in twenty two professional bouts.
Neither boxer has faced any serious contenders in their primes. Ramirez has defeated the likes of Osumanu Akaba, Bilal Mahasin, and former world title challenger Cristobal Cruz. Roman’s only notable victory was over Hector Serrano.
Roman does not have many notable wins on his resume, but he does have two glaring losses. His two losses were to Joaquin Chavez, who had a record of 8-13-3 at the time they fought, and to Carlos Mario Sanchez, who had a record of 20-10 at the time they fought.
This is a bout that Eddie Ramirez should win, easily. It will be noteworthy to see if Ramirez can stop Roman, who has never been stopped in his career.
Mario Barrios (15-0) vs. Devis Boschiero (29-4-1); IBF Junior Lightweight Eliminator
Mario Barrios has fought eight times since the start of 2015 and is one of Al Haymon’s most intriguing prospects.
His activity is almost unheard of. He’s a tall fighter for the junior lightweight division and will have a six and a half inch height advantage over Boschiero. He also has a 74” reach, which is large for his division, and will have a six inch reach advantage over Boschiero.
Barrios, at the age of twenty one, is also thirteen years younger than Boschiero.
Barrios has eight stoppage victories on his resume, but he will have to be careful of Boschiero’s power. Boschiero has stopped twenty one of his opponents and won his last two fights by stoppage.
Barrios, at this point in his career, has yet to be seriously tested. His biggest wins have come against the likes of Manuel Vides, Enrique Tinoco, and Eduardo Rivera. A lot of his wins have come against opponents with losing records.
Boschiero previously fought for a world title against Takahiro Ao and lost. His other losses were to Stephen Smith and Romain Jacob, twice. He has defeated the likes of Guillaume Frenois and Ermano Fegatilli. He’s also been very active and fought four times in 2015 and once in 2016.
It should be noted that Boschiero has only fought outside of Europe once, and he lost in that bout to Takahiro Ao. Boschiero has never fought in the United States.
Boschiero is a good, tough veteran for Barrios at this point in his career. Barrios seems to be aware that Boschiero represents a tough fight for him and stated, “All I know about Boschiero is that he’s got a lot of fights and he’s a top contender. I know he’s hungry so I’m not taking him lightly. I’ve seen some tape on him and I know he likes to come forward. Everyone can expect to see a lot of had punches being thrown by both of us. I’m expecting a war.”
However, Barrios’ skill level and his reach and height will be too great for Boschiero to overcome and pull off an upset victory. Barrios should get some rounds in and win a decision victory.