Former unified junior welterweight world champion, Jose Ramirez, won a 12-round unanimous decision over Rances Barthelemy in his Golden Boy debut on Saturday night. The victory was in front of a strong hometown crowd of more than 13,000 people at the Save Mart Center Saturday night.

The 31-year-old Ramirez (29-1, 18 KOs) went toe-to-toe with the 37-year-old, former two-time world champion Barthelemy (30-3-1, 15 KOs).

Ramirez was quivery through the first half of the fight, getting shaken up three times, and even went down briefly. He settled down and returned to his strengths after the sixth and worked over Barthelemy on the inside, getting the best of him.

“I was a little off-balance and lost a little focus and he landed his shot and made me want to return back to my fight. That made the fight hard for me because I could’ve finished him off earlier,” said Ramirez. “There were moments where I thought I had him hurt. I thought he was waiting for me to commit and have him throw but I realized he was hurt. I doubted myself and I didn’t capitalize on those moments.”

Related Story: Jose Ramirez: ‘I Want to Make a Statement and Put on a Show’

Barthelemy’s Strategy and Ramirez’s Response

Barthelemy’s strategy as a southpaw fighter was to land his left hand punches on Ramirez and tire him out by covering himself and resting on the ropes looking for a moment to attack. The fight was close to being stopped in the 11th round when Ramirez battered the tired Barthelemy with an onslaught of shots.

The scores were 119-109, 119-109, 118-110 in favor of Ramirez.

“It’s never easy when you’ve been out of the ring for a year especially against a two-time world champion. There were times in the fight I thought I was at his level, but I got distracted especially in the third and fourth round. I was a little cautious and I kept him in the fight. It proves that I need to go back in the gym and prepare more for my next fight,” said Ramirez.

Despite not displaying his best talents, Ramirez had a lot of support from the Valley to keep him motivated. Especially with boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya by his side, who was in attendance. It’s that motivation he’s going to build upon when he returns to the ring around August or September.

“I’m looking to fight all the big names in the 140 division. I need to get back into the ring and work and show a better Jose Ramirez because this wasn’t the best. I was rusty but I’m grateful I won the fight. I need to continue and work on being consistent.”

Other Matches of the Night

In the doubleheader match, the unbeaten Vergil Ortiz Jr. (21-0, 21 KOs) absolutely dominated the veteran Thomas Dulorme (27-7-1, 17 KOs) by a first-round one-punch body shot knockout in middleweight action.

Dulorme went down at 2:39 of round one. This is Ortiz’s second consecutive first-round knockout this year.

“He was coming with everything,” Ortiz said. “I can’t explain how I know when to land a shot like that, I can just feel it. I knew it was over, he made a sound and the way he fell. It’s an honor to share the ring with him. I feel like everything is where it needs to be.”

Because of this victory, the stage has been set for Ortiz  to fight former WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu on Aug. 3 in Los Angeles.

“I know you’re watching this fight, Tim Tszyu. Just know I’m ready! I just want to fight the best. I don’t know why, they bring me opponents and I knock them out,” said Ortiz.

Light welterweight contender Oscar Duarte (27-2-1, 22 KOs) wore down and took down the former IBF super featherweight champion Joseph “JoJo” Diaz (33-6-1, 15 KOs) in the ninth round. As the referee was about to stop the fight, Diaz’s corner threw in the towel. The fight stopped at 2:32.

“I felt really good,” said Duarte. “I had an amazing preparation with all my Mexico and the Robert Garcia teams. I felt like I was fully there, really good. I really appreciate all the fans from Fresno that came to support me. JoJo is a great fighter. He was a world champion and an Olympian. I want to rest first and sit down with my team to see what’s next.”

Gabriela Alaniz (15-1, 6 KOs) applied continuous pressure and punching combinations to defeat Marlen Esparza (15-2, 1 KOs) by a 10-round split decision to capture the vacant WBA/WBC/WBO flyweight female championship.

The scores were 98-92 for Esparza, 97-93, and 96-94 for Alaniz.

“I’m very happy. The belts are coming back to Argentina,” said Alaniz. “The secret to winning against her was just knowing her. Right now, I just want to go home and celebrate with my family until whatever is next. I just know I won’t be giving Marlen the rematch, like how she didn’t want to give it to me. I want to thank the media for supporting me in my career and through this moment.”

Welterweight prospect Raul Curiel (15-0, 13 KOs) pummeled veteran Jorge Marron Jr. (20-5-2, 7 KOs), stopping him in the first round. The 2016 Olympian Curiel dropped Marron twice, delivering lefts to the body. The fight stopped at 1:31.

Super Feather Bryan Lua (9-0) from Madera stopped Ronaldo “Criminal” Solis (4-5-1) in six rounds.

Bantam Figo “La Maqina” Ramirez Gonzalez (6-0) stopped Alejandro Robles (0-3) after three rounds of a scheduled four rounds.

Visalia’s Jennah Creason was set to make her professional debut, but the fight was cut after four opponents pulled out against her.