Las Vegas, T-Mobile Arena - Jesus “Mono” Ramos (22-1, 17 KOs) put on an impressive display of body punching on his way to an eighth-round stoppage of former unified world champion Jeison Rosario (24-5-2, 18 KOs) in their middleweight attraction.
"This feels great,” said Ramos. “I was hoping to get the knockout instead of a TKO, but this works for me too. I'm just glad we were able to both come out of the ring healthy.”
The 23-year-old Ramos established a consistent body attack early and often, stalking his opponent around the ring on his way to landing 54 body shots across the first four rounds. With Rosario weary of the body shots, Ramos appeared to have him hurt early in round six when he mixed in a flurry of uppercuts that pushed Rosario to the ropes.
"Attacking the body was an important strategy,” said Ramos. “I wanted to break him down. He's a big guy, so I wanted to take my time in there.”
Back on the attack in round seven, Ramos sent Rosario to the canvas late with a blistering straight left that wobbled Rosario before he hit the mat. Rosario was able to rise to his feet and stayed in the fight, but was ultimately unable to slow Ramos’ onslaught.
As the fight moved into round eight, Ramos continued to move forward and eventually broke through again with a massive right hook that looked to have Rosario hurt moments before referee Robert Hoyle jumped in and ended the fight at 2:18. After the emphatic victory, Ramos plans to resume his request for a 154-pound world championship.
"I want to go back down to 154 pounds and fight the best in the division,” said Ramos. “There's a lot of talent at super welterweight and we're looking to make all the big fights."