Ultiminio Ramos, the Cuban-Mexican boxer who saw two of his rivals die in combat

The geographical proximity between Mexico and Cuba, as well as social movements, encouraged the sports representatives of the island to consolidate their career on Aztec soil. In the footsteps of Jose Butter Naples, Ultimate Rama He cemented a successful career outside his homeland, although he also had to deal with the deaths of two of his rivals in battle.

He Sugar Ramos, as he became known in the boxing world, was born in the city of Matanzas, Cuba, on December 2, 1941. His love for boxing led him to put on the gloves at the age of 14 and work his way into the amateur arena with a large number of fights. So, after two years of training, he decided debut as a professional at 16 in the capital of his country.

At the same time as he was taking his first steps as a paid boxer, Fidel Castro began to plan the overthrow of the government of Fulgencio Batista. It was in 1959 that the rebel succeeded in seizing the governmental power of the city of Havana and various personalities among which the Butter Naples and Ultimate Ramathey decided leave the country obtain Mexican nationality.

According to the platform file BoxRec, Sugar Ramos has fought his first 30 fights in his homeland. However, it has had sporadic appearances in other latitudes of the continent such as Venezuela and Panama. Although the passage to this stage of his career was extremely prolific, he had to face the first tragedy.

He November 8, 1958, In a sports complex located in the city of Havana, Cuba, Ramos faced Jose “El Tigre” Blanco, which was not listed as having the best balance until that time. And it is that of the 12 fights he had held, he had only been victorious in four, while in the other eight, he had to suffer defeat.

In this context, and with the hope of overcoming the dreaded Sugar, The Tiger got up but he couldn’t tolerate his rival’s punishment. Due to injuries sustained from the slaps, he fell by knockout, although moments later lost his life because of the severity of the sentence.

Ramos’ career continued and with his arrival in Mexico he continued to develop his career. Five years after the fatal episode that marked his career, Ultiminio had to deal with a similar scenario during his presentation at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California.

On this occasion, the victim of the attack was Davey Moore, who was looking to win the World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Association (WBA) bantamweight belts. However, during the fight, he suffered a fall that caused his neck to hit the top rope of the ring.

Two days after the fight Davey Moore has passed away in a hospital in the United States because whiplash from the fall caused irreversible damage to his brainstem.

Despite the two deaths, Ramos did not quit boxing in the years that followed. Along the way, he was able to establish himself as champion of the three defense fights after which he fought beating Moore. It was not until October 1966 that he lost the crown to Mexican Carlos Ortiz in the Cuatro Caminos bullfight in Mexico City.

In the 15 years he has appeared in the boxing marquee, Ultiminio Ramos has won 55 times, 40 of them by knockout, and he conceded seven defeats. Despite this, his sporting merit led him to be considered as Hall of Fame of Canastota, New York, in the year 2000.

On September 3, 2017, according to a CMB report, Ultiminio Ramos died in the Mexican capital, although details of his death have not been released.