James wins 10-round bout in boxing’s return to the Minneapolis Armory

In a venue that hasn’t seen boxing in 45 years, that once hosted the likes of boxing greats Sugar Ray Robinson and Joe Louis, the Minneapolis Armory did not disappoint on Friday night.

Photos by Marilyn Indahl

Minneapolis native Jamal James upped his sparkling record to 23-1 with a 10-round majority decision over Abel Ramos (18-3-2, 13 KOs) of  Casa Grande, Arizona,  in a toe-to-toe bloodbath that thrilled a packed house at the newly renovated Armory.

James, who is the 4th ranked welterweight in the world according to the World Boxing Association, had his work cut out for him against the hard hitting Ramos. After getting off to a slow start, Ramos stunned James several times in the middle and later rounds. But James relented, jabbed, shuffled and boxed his way to an entertaining victory.

Former IBF Super Middleweight champion Caleb Truax, who lost his title to James DeGale last weekend, was on hand for the bout.  “I’m not sure if he’s fought anybody like Ramos before” said the Osseo, MN native. “The first round it looked like Jamal was going to have an easy time of it, but Ramos kept walking him down. This was a good learning experience for him.”

Two of the three judges scored the fight 96-94 for James while the third judge had it as a 95-95 tie.  The James-Ramos fight was part of a 10-bout card that was televised nationally by Fox Sports One (FS1).      Click here for photo gallery