Rafael Espinoza: “I think of myself as challenger” in maiden defense vs Sergio Chirino

When little known Rafael Espinoza stepped into the ring with then WBO featherweight titleholder Robeisy Ramirez last December, he called it ‘the opportunity of a life time.”

On that particular evening, the Mexican scored what would later be called “The Ring Magazine Upset of The Year” with an exciting 12-round majority decision to annex the title.

Fast forward six-months, and Espinoza finds himself on the opposite side of that equation when he meets once-beaten Sergio Chirino at the Fontainebleau, Las Vegas, on Friday.