LAS VEGAS — Rafael Espinoza returns to the ring for the first time as a champion on Friday as he puts his WBO featherweight world title on the line against fellow Mexican fighter Sergio Chirino at the luxury casino-resort Fontainebleau in Las Vegas.
Espinoza won the belt as the underdog in 2023 when he engaged Robeisy Ramirez in a Fight of the Year contender near Miami, overcoming a fifth-round knockdown and twisted ankle to drop Ramirez and earn a win via majority decision.
A lot of Mexican champions called Espinoza after his big win. “Julio Cesar Chavez and Marco Antonio Barrera called and it filled me with pride now that they call me a champion,” he told World Boxing News through a translator.
“They said that I have heart, and not many boxers have that. I’m happy about that.”
The Ramirez fight was the first time Espinoza boxed in the United States, but because of his 6-foot-1 frame and fan-friendly style, it became a launchpad to compete on ESPN+ in the US once again this weekend.
“I’m coming with all the desire to win this fight on Friday,” the 30-year-old told us Wednesday.
Espinoza threw an absurd 995 punches at Ramirez during their barnburner, landing 222 shots for a 22.3% connect rate.
With the belt draped over one shoulder, and a champion’s smile, he looked like a natural on stage and off of it — and sounded confident he would repeat that success once more on the road.
Speaking to World Boxing News, he even said he’d welcome a “dream” fight against pound-for-pound sensation Naoya Inoue, who has become a hot ticket in Japan.
“My dream is to become a pound-for-pound fighter,” Espinoza told WBN exclusively. “And I think that a fight with him will put me there. When that day comes, I will win.”
We asked Top Rank COO Bradley Jacobs if such a fight could materialize in the future, as there is increasing talk that Inoue may soon leave the super bantamweight division to join Espinoza at featherweight.
“It’s just so hard to speculate on what happens, you know, guys have to win and all kinds of things,” Jacobs told us.
“But, never say never,” he added. “I know there’s a long list of people who want to fight Inoue. I don’t know why — I wouldn’t want to fight Inoue! But It’s certainly within the realm of possibilities.”
Espinoza, though, refuses to get sidetracked from his most immediate assignment — defeating Chirino at BleauLive Theater inside Fontainebleau.
“But, first, I’m going to win this fight,” he said. “Which is the only thing I have in my mind right now, and in my head — to put on a really amazing show.”
Putting on a really amazing show is something Mexican fighters always seem to promise when they are competing against one another in a main event.
For Jacobs, it’s because of the lineage and cultural history of the fighters and people from that region.
“I think there’s something in the water in Mexico that makes these guys fight the way they do,” he joked.
“It’s just unique to the territory in the region and to the fighters, just something in their blood, their lineage, their history. It’s terrific.
“And anytime you put two great Mexican fighters together, it’s going to be as spectacular.”
Espinoza also summarized it for World Boxing News. “We have that blood of people who never want to quit,” he said.
“That’s people who persist and continue dreaming, so I think that’s why in these fights, you always see two Mexican fighters create a war.”
The Espinoza vs Chirino fight airs on ESPN+ in the US, and Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland.
Alan Dawson is World Boxing News Lead Writer, a 2 x Sports Journalist of the Year finalist, and 5 x BWAA awards winner. Follow Alan @AlanDawsonSport.
