Jesus Ramos Illness Cancels Nursultanov Title Defense

Lance Pugmire reported for BoxingScene that an official monitoring the Premier Boxing Champions event confirmed the cancellation Friday. PBC had not released its own confirmation when the report was published.

The timing raises unavoidable questions about Ramos’ weight cut. Food poisoning may have caused the illness without any connection to his preparation, but Ramos looked enormous beside Nursultanov at Thursday’s final press conference. He looked closer to a super middleweight than a boxer preparing to reach 160 pounds.

Gastrointestinal illness combined with deliberate dehydration would make completing the cut dangerous. Ramos would have been losing fluids from two directions while still attempting to remove additional water before the weigh-in. Canceling the fight was the responsible decision, but his size raises a longer-term question about how comfortably his body can continue making middleweight.