Sugar Ramos


Ultiminio Ramos Zaqueira was a Cuban-Mexican boxer who was better known as Sugar Ramos. Ramos fought out of Mexico where he was adopted as a national hero. He was a World Featherweight champion and member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Exile

Ramos won the Cuban Featherweight championship belt in 1960 and then fled to Mexico City when Fidel Castro came into power.

Famous bouts

In Mexico, Ultiminio "Sugar" Ramos built his historical career. On March 21, 1963, Ramos had a bout scheduled at Dodger Stadium. On that day, Ramos severely beat Davey Moore. In the 10th round, Moore was knocked down. Four days later, Moore died from injuries sustained to his brain stem.
This was similar to Ramos' twelfth professional fight in which Jose Blanco died from injuries sustained in the fight.

Retirement and death

Ramos lost his titles in 1964 to
Vicente Saldivar after the fight was stopped in the twelfth round due to cuts. Ramos then moved up to lightweight, eventually earning a shot at then champion Carlos Ortiz in 1966. Ramos would lose the fight via fifth round TKO, and then an immediate rematch by TKO in the fourth round. He continued boxing until 1972. Sugar Ramos died at the age of 75 on September 3, 2017 in his adopted home of Mexico City due to complications from cancer. He was survived by his 4 children.

Records

His record was 55 wins 7 losses, and 4 Draws.
wrote a song about the event where Davey Moore succumbed to death while posing the question of public responsibility. It is titled "Who Killed Davey Moore?" and was also sung by Pete Seeger.
Phil Ochs wrote a song titled "Davey Moore" which told the story of Davey Moore's death and placed the guilt on the managers and the boxing "money men" as well as boxing fans.

A tribute to Davey Moore is also made by the New Zealander and French writer and singer Graeme Allwright :fr:Graeme Allwright|Wikipedia via his song Qui a tué Davy Moore