Golden Boy

All grown up: Luis, Ronny and Carlos Molina, of Commerce, signed with Golden Boy yesterday

Ronny Rios, whose quick ascent from little known high school boxer to surprise national phenom we've documented in these pages, and Luis Ramos Jr., another local star who has boxed at TKO Boxing gym in Santa Ana since he was a kid, signed on with Oscar de la Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions yesterday, making their diligent, hard-won climb official: They will now be promoted by the biggest boys in the game and will be heartily pushed to make their major mark with world titles.

Dressed in a smart suit and looking older than the days when we first covered his near miss at going to the 2008 Olympics, Ronny signed the dotted line that officially baptized him as a member of the pro-boxer big leagues. 

Described by the Golden Boy crew as, "One of the most decorated amateurs to hit the boxing scene in recent years," who is, "...drawing more and more comparisons to a young Oscar de la Hoya with each passing victory for his style and speed in the ring," an always slightly shy and relentlessly humble Ronny will be making his debut with Golden Boy the Nokia L.A. Live center on July 30th. Ronny, whose record is 5-0 (with two knockouts), since he went pro late last year, said yesterday, "I feel that there is a lot expected of me right now and I'm ready to meet those expectations."

Luis, who is 11-0 with six knockouts, said the whole thing was like a dream come true. "I'm really excited and never expected that one day I would be signed with Oscar who I always watched growing up," he said.

The Golden Boy crew also likes that Ronny and Luis have "crossover" appeal, an apparent asset these days when trying to market to (and make money off of) a bilingual, bi-cultural market. Sigh.

Regardless, it's good news for both Ronny and Luis, who come from meager backgrounds, have kept their heads screwed on pretty tight and have never strayed from the desire to make it big in boxing so that they can help their families. FightNews.com quoted Oscar de la Hoya as saying of the two: "I followed Luis...and Ronny as they went through the amateur ranks, immediately recognized their talent and watched how they have gotten better and better with each fight."