Barthelemy, Ramirez Ends in a Split Draw in Las Vegas Battle

Photo courtesy of Ryan Hafey / Premier Boxing Champions

BOXING SCENE - By Ryan Burton

Cannery Hotel & Casino, North Las Vegas, Nevada - In a very entertaining back and forth fight, decorated amateur Leduan Barthelemy (13-0-1) battled Eduardo Ramirez (20-0-3) to a questionable split draw in their featherweight battle. The height and reach advantage that Barthelemy enjoyed was evident from the opening bell. He also had a big speed advantage was difficult for Ramirez to adjust to. Ramirez turned it on with a big fourth as he landed several hard head shots.

The give and take action continued through the fifth and sixth as Barthelemy, the younger brother of former champion Rances Barthelemy, landed softer blows while Ramirez landed heavy artillery. Barthelemy tried to turn the tide in the seventh and began to sit on his shots but Ramirez also had moments. Barthelemy had better ninth and tenth rounds to make the fight closer.

97-93 Barthelemy, 96-94 Ramirez and 95-95 were the final scores.

"I wanted to pressure him all the way through and take away his reach advantage," said Ramirez. "I felt good the whole fight and he never hurt me at any point. I believed in my skills and I performed well. I thought that I won the fight, it was a close fight but I believe that I did what I had to do to win. I would fight him again and beat him even worse."

"It was a very tough, physical fight for both of us," said Barthelemy. "I didn't feel 100 percent but I was able to work through it and I never felt hurt during the fight. He landed on me but I was able to keep my composure. I would definitely fight him again. I'll be ready for another great battle and I'll get the clear victory this time."

In a battle of super featherweight prospects, Alejandro Salinas (9-1) outworked a gritty Duarn Vue (12-1) in a barn burner. The entire fight was fought from close range and Vue endured hellacious shots all night long. Salinas landed at will but wasn't able to finish off his opponent. The final tallies were 80-72, 79-73 and a too close 77-75.

In the opening bout of the telecast, Las Vegas resident by way of Cuba Ivan Jiménez (8-1-1) was defeated by Bryan Figueroa (13-0) of México in their lightweight bout via unanimous decision. After a feeling out process, the action heated up in the third when Figueroa landed several hard shots. He was also warned for low blows for the third time.

Jiménez came out with a sense of urgency in the fourth and landed a hard shot out of the gate to try to slow down Figueroa's momentum but was largely unsuccessful. Jiménez came out with a sense of urgency to close the show strong in the sixth and final round but it was too little too late. The final scores were 58-56 on all three scorecards.