Cuban BKB Star Yampier Ramirez Says Tough Havana Upbringing Made Him A Fighter: “I Want To Put The Flag As High As I Can.”
Yampier Ramirez will bring his unbeaten BKB record to Miami on August 29, when he meets Tristian Harrison in a super lightweight bout at BKB 58. The 22-year-old Cuban fighter is 4-0 in bare-knuckle competition, with every victory ending by KO or TKO, and he says his upbringing in Havana still drives every part of his career.
“I’m from Havana. If I were to choose where to grow up in another life, I would go back to Cuba,” Ramirez said. “We have no food, no electricity, no this, no that. But everybody’s happy. Everybody helps each other out. With what little they can.”
Yampier Ramirez on Cuba, Family Support and His BKB 58 Clash With Tristian Harrison
Ramirez grew up in Cuba before building his fighting career in South Florida, and BKB lists Hialeah as the place he now fights out of. His connection to his home country remains at the center of his ambitions, though. “You’re actually in the streets having fun with your friends, playing actual games,” Ramirez said. “Growing up in Cuba was tough, but it’s what made me what I am right now.”
The matchup with Harrison is part of BKB 58’s August 29 card at the James L. Knight Center in downtown Miami. The promotion has placed Ramirez-Harrison among the undercard fights, while the show is led by heavyweight champion Gustavo Trujillo against Mark O’Neil. Cuban Olympic gold medalist Yuriorkis Gamboa is also set to make his bare-knuckle debut that night.
Ramirez’s climb in the sport has moved fast. He stopped Kendell Ward in his 2024 bare-knuckle debut, beat Trey Howard by first-round TKO later that year, then finished former champion Brandon Birr in the second round. In March, he claimed the vacant BKB featherweight title with a second-round TKO of previously unbeaten Ash Williams, taking his record to 4-0 with four stoppages.
“Since I was a kid, since I was six, I’ve been fighting,” Ramirez said. “Honestly, growing up it turned me into being an actual fighter and being a fighter and sticking to it, it was just my family and the environment that I grew up in.”
Away from the Trigon, Ramirez has also carried a 7-0 professional boxing record. A 2024 BKB feature described him as undefeated in seven pro boxing bouts before his early bare-knuckle run began to draw attention.
“Everybody would push me, encouraged me to keep on going and keep on doing it,” Ramirez said. “They supported me all the way.” Miami gives Ramirez a familiar setting for the next chapter.
“I want to put the flag as high as I can and achieve what I’ve always dreamed,” Ramirez said. “The top. The best fighter ever. That’s what I train for.”