This weekend marks the start of a season filled with exhilarating rematches. Rafael Espinoza will face Robeisy Ramirez, and Emanuel Navarrete will go head-to-head with Oscar Valdez in a double-header on Sky Sports. Later this month, Tyson Fury will engage in a second battle with Oleksandr Usyk for the unified world heavyweight championship.

Ramirez's Journey to Redemption

In the first of these world championship rematches, Ramirez will box Mexico's Rafael Espinoza for the WBO featherweight world title that the Cuban once held. A year ago, the unheralded Espinoza pulled off an upset against Ramirez in one of the best fights of 2023. But the Cuban believes the second fight will be just as intense. "You can expect a war," Ramirez told Sky Sports. "We all know how Mexican fighters are. They never give up. The reality is it wasn't the best version of me, and I was still able to give a great show. So, the second fight will be better."Ramirez has had to regroup from a damaging defeat before. As a two-time Olympic gold medallist, he lost his professional debut to Adan Gonzales in a huge upset. But he had his revenge when he won their rematch a year later. He wants to repeat that form this weekend. "I try not to go in there with anger towards the fighter. I go in there focused on my job. I always characterise myself for getting up after falling down," he said. "I will be a champion again. I will go back to the place where I should be."In the first fight, Ramirez dropped Espinoza in the fifth round, only to be knocked down himself in the last round as Espinoza took a majority decision. "I recognise that he did come to win. But I didn't see myself lose. In the last round, he didn't land a punch that put me in a bad position. I went down, if you see the replay, I went down from being tired," Ramirez insisted. "I didn't see myself as the loser."

Ramirez's Knockout Victory

Robeisy Ramirez produced a stunning uppercut knockout on Brandon Benitez in the seventh round of their featherweight fight. This victory sets him up for exciting fights with other champions in 2025. "There's no problem fighting any of them. That's one of the things I've always had in my mind in my career and one of the things I need to do in my career," he declared. "Now I have to recover my title, and I will be ready to unify against any of the champions who are there."

Boxing on Sky Sports

December 8: Emanuel Navarrete vs Oscar Valdez II, Rafael Espinoza v Robeisy Ramirez II.December 14: Natasha Jonas vs Ivana Habazin, Lauren Price vs Bexcy Mateus, Stephen McKenna vs Lee Cutler.December 15: Jaime Munguia vs Bruno Surace.December 21: Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury II (live on Sky Sports Box Office).December 24: Naoya Inoue vs Sam Goodman.January 11: Callum Simpson vs Steed Woodall, Caroline Dubois vs Jessica Camara.February 1: Adam Azim vs Sergey Lipinets. Rafael Espinoza vs Robeisy Ramirez will be live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports+ from 1.30 am on Sunday.