Esparza loses three belts on scale

Jose Ramirez, Rances Barthelemy, Vergil Ortiz Jr, and the rest of the noteworthy names came in under their respective catchweight limits

Today’s Jose Ramirez vs Rances Barthelemy weigh-ins were an interesting affair, partly due to the fact that three of the four main card fights magically turned out to be catchweight bouts the whole time. Ramirez and Barthelemy both came in around 142 for what we thought was a super lightweight bout, Vergil Ortiz Jr hit the scales at 155.6 for what we thought was a super welterweight bout against Thomas Dulorme (154.6), and Oscar Duarte and JoJo Diaz each weighed in around 138 for what we thought was a lightweight bout.

The one bout unaffected by Golden Boy’s fetish for arbitrary limits turned out to be greatest source of drama, though, as WBA/WBC/WBO flyweight champion Marlen Esparza (14-1, 1 KO) missed weight by a full two pounds for her mandatory rematch against Gabriela Celeste Alaniz (14-1, 6 KO).

Esparza’s last non-title bout was a 2021 decision over 4-3-2 Shelly Barnett. She subsequently beat Ibeth Zamora for the WBC belt, Naoko Fujioka for the WBA belt, then edged out Alaniz for the WBO belt with a majority decision last July.

And now they’re all gone. So much for that Gabriela Fundora undisputed title fight or a rematch with Seniesa Estrada in the foreseeable future.