Spence vs Garcia: Julio Ceja out with COVID, Eduardo Ramirez to face Miguel Flores on Saturday

Welp, there goes one of this weekend’s best fights.

Mexican newspaper Milenio reported yesterday that former super bantamweight champion Julio Ceja tested positive for COVID, bouncing him from this Saturday’s WBC featherweight eliminator against Eduardo Ramirez on the Spence-Garcia PPV. Dan Rafael and Bastion Boxeo claim that Miguel Flores will take his place.

This new matchup is not listed on the PPV purchase page, but neither is the original, so we know at least half of that info is true.

This is a downgrade, to say the least. Flores (24-3, 12 KO) has fallen short in every noteworthy bout to date, suffering losses to Dat Nguyen, Chris Avalos, and most recently Leo Santa Cruz in a WBA super featherweight title fight. The Avalos loss was particularly damning; Flores is the “1” in Avalos’ current 1-5 skid, which features four knockout losses.

How to Watch Spence vs Garcia

Date: Saturday, Dec. 5 | Start Time: 9:00 pm ET
Location: AT&T Stadium - Arlington, TX
Stream: FOX Sports PPV | TV: PPV (US) / Premier Sports (UK)
Online Coverage: BadLeftHook.com

This marks Ramirez’s (23-2-3, 10 KO) second near-miss against top competition in recent months. The 27-year-old “Zurdito” was booked to face former title challenger Tugstsogt Nyambayar in September, but wound up replaced by Cobia Breedy on fight week.

No telling if this is still an eliminator; Ramirez is ranked #5 by the WBC, while Flores is rightfully unranked.

The card still features Sebastian Fundora vs. Jorge Cota and Josesito Lopez vs. Francisco Santana, both of which look to be plenty entertaining.