Jesus Ramos Jr.’s WBC interim middleweight title defense against Meirim Nursultanov has been removed from Saturday’s Isaac Cruz versus Nestor Bravo card in San Diego. Ramos reportedly became ill with a suspected case of food poisoning.
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.
Nursultanov (20-0, 11 KOs) pays another heavy price. He has spent nearly three years waiting for the WBC opportunity he earned by defeating Julio Alamos in November 2023. Now 33, the Kazakh has lost another training camp and still lacks a confirmed fight date.
The WBC should consider ordering full champion Carlos Adames to defend directly against Nursultanov. Adames has already been prevented from pursuing a unification with WBO champion Denzel Bentley because the sanctioning body wanted him to face the Ramos-Nursultanov winner. Waiting months for the interim defense to be rearranged would freeze all three fighters and further expose the damage created by secondary titles.
The cancellation also removes the most competitive fight beneath Cruz-Bravo. Eumir Marcial (7-0, 4 KOs) against Omar Ulises Huerta (15-1-1, 13 KOs) will now open Saturday’s DAZN broadcast at 8 p.m. ET, Francisco Salazar reported.
Marcial-Huerta offers more resistance than an ordinary prospect showcase, but it cannot replace the divisional importance of Ramos-Nursultanov. Cruz supplies the card’s name recognition. Ramos and Nursultanov supplied its competitive substance and a direct connection to WBC champion Carlos Adames. Without them, the San Diego broadcast has lost the fight serious boxing followers had the greatest reason to watch.
