Pampellone v Ramirez: Jerome Pampellone falls to seventh-round stoppage in interim world title fight

Jerome Pampellone’s bid to clinch the WBA interim world light heavyweight title has fallen short in Libya.

In his bout against Venezuelan Albert Ramirez, the Kiwi boxer fell to a seventh-round TKO loss; his corner throwing in the towel after their fighter was dropped for a third time.

It was a third loss in a row for Pampellone, who was beaten by majority and split decision in his previous two encounters, which were both world title eliminators.

However, against the hard-hitting Ramirez, who is ranked in the top five with all four of the sport’s major governing bodies, there was no debate after a strong sixth round set the unbeaten Venezuelan up for the win.

With about 20s left in the round, Ramirez struck with a counter-left that looked to slightly wobble Pampellone. The Venezuelan noticed and went after his Kiwi adversary, landing some solid shots before getting Pampellone off-balance.

On the horn, the two loaded up on right hands, with Ramirez catching Pampellone flush and sending the London-born Kiwi to the canvas.

Although Pampellone was able to beat the count and return to his corner, Ramirez hunted the finish from the start of the seventh round.

It was just 30s into the round that Ramirez landed another knockdown, before a third and final blow came with 1m 50s left in the round.

For Ramirez, it was a case of capitalising on the opportunity when it was presented after a tense, close bout.

Pampellone was holding his own through the early stages of the fight, landing some good short punches in the clinch and not taking any clean shots.

Until the sixth round, Pampellone tested Ramirez and arguably had the best moment of the bout with a late surge in round four, where he landed a few clean shots just before the bell.

It took until the sixth round before Ramirez was able to break Pampellone down and land something of substance, and he didn’t waste any time when he knew he had Pampellone in trouble.

With the loss, Pampellone drops to 19-3 as a professional, while Ramirez moves to 22-0.