Boxing
Dan Rafael, ESPN Senior Writer 6y

Jamal James to fight Abel Ramos on April 13 in Minneapolis

Boxing

Welterweight Jamal James will have a hometown fight for the first time since 2013 when he squares off with Abel Ramos on April 13 in the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions card at the Armory in Minneapolis, PBC announced Wednesday.

The scheduled 10-round bout will headline a PBC card on Fox Sports 1 and Fox Deportes beginning at 9 p.m. ET.

James (22-1, 10 KOs), 29, has won two fights in a row since a 10-round decision loss to contender Yordenis Ugas in August 2016. James is coming off the biggest win of his career on Dec. 15, when he knocked out former interim titlist Diego Chaves with a body shot in the third round.

"I'm grateful for the opportunity to compete on this platform and to show the nation and the world that Minnesota has great fighters and an enthusiastic fan base for boxing," James said. "Abel Ramos is a tough guy who will come to fight, but coming off the big win over Chaves, I'm in a position in my career where I'm trying to reach that world championship level. I have to continue to demonstrate the ability to perform under pressure in difficult fights. I know he's coming to pull off an upset, but that's not happening."

Ramos (18-2-2, 13 KOs), 26, of Casa Grande, Arizona, suffered a 10-round decision loss to junior welterweight contender Ivan Baranchyk 13 months ago and bounced back in a sixth-round knockout of Emmanuel Robles in July. He said he has no worries about going to James' hometown.

"I'm a real Mexican warrior, and I never back down from a fight," Ramos said. "I'm not worried about going into Jamal James' hometown and fighting him there. I'm going to disappoint Jamal and all his fans in Minneapolis, because I'm coming to win."

In the co-feature, former junior lightweight and junior welterweight world title challenger Edner Cherry (37-6-2, 19 KOs), 35, a Bahamas native fighting out of Wauchula, Florida, will meet Dennis Galarza (16-2, 9 KOs), 22, of Brooklyn, New York, in a 10-round lightweight fight.

The opening bout of the tripleheader will pit Austin Dulay (11-0, 8 KOs), a 22-year-old southpaw from Nashville, and Chris Colbert (7-0, 2 KOs), 21, of Brooklyn, in an eight-round junior lightweight bout.

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