NEW YORK — Panama rumbled with Mexico on Saturday night in Brooklyn, at Barclays Center, and kicked off the night of fights on Showtime.

Eduardo Ramirez of Los Mochis, Mexico got the win, basting Bryan De Gracia in round nine with a nasty flurry. A right uppercut started it, and the ref pulled the plug at the 2:10 mark.

A minor WBA belt was put around the waist of Ramirez (22-1-3, 9 knockouts) as he saw De Gracia protest.

The punch-stat numbers: 154-570 for the loser to 126-793 for the busier man, the victor.

The scores at the stoppage saw two cards for De Gracia (24-2-1, 20 KOs) at 77-75, and the third had it even at 76-76.

The onslaught from Ramirez proves too much for @bryanlaroca in Round 9. #DeGraciaRamirez pic.twitter.com/QUHZkD16ue

— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) March 3, 2019

The winner took a bow and spoke to Jim Gray: He said he knew it was close, and his corner told him that, so he acted accordingly. He said yeah, he’d fought just one round in 15 months. “I came here to do something and I did it,” he stated.

De Gracia, age 25, won four in a row and last rumbled in August, besting Edisno Torres Jr. in Panama, and this was his first fight in the US. He got this gig a week ago after Edner Cherry was pulled for a medical issue, and they needed a replacement bout.

Ramirez drew with Leduan Barthelemy, lost to Lee Selby while over the weight,  and he bested Carlos Jacobs, a journeyman, three months ago.

Guess what? Ramirez was a pound over and to sweat it out to make weight, Friday, so we’d pay attention to his stamina as this played out.

In the first, they started with a sharp pace. Was DeGracia throwing wide shots or keeping it tight? He came in wanting to jab copiously and land that big right. Eduardo wanted to not square up and be a sharp and smart counter-puncher. His left hand would need to be on message to grab the win.

In round two, De Gracia pumped a jab, while Ramirez threw up a waffley jab. De Gracia came forward and looked to be the aggressor, the opposite of the first. A straight right from De Gracia served notice that his power was present. Ramirez didn’t see plentiful opportunities to counter. The De Gracia corner asked him to “get it going this round.” “You gotta throw more,” Ramirez was told.

To the third–Ramirez was getting warmed up. The movement for Ramirez helped him, he was circling and staying mobile and evading well. To the 4th: De Gracia wanted to be busier and not let Ramirez set the tone and ryhthm. In round 5, we saw the action heating up more. De Gracia was acting frustrated, with the movement. Ramirez was fighting smart and cute. But some power landed and they traded to end the round. “That’s the way, you keep on top of him,” said Team De Gracia after. A feinted one and a straight right worked, and also a right landed late for De Gracia.

De Gracia wanted to stalk in the sixth but cutting off the ring isn’t his forte. Then he landed a sharp right, and the crowd buzzed. The volume was now high, both men were being forced to work. “More punches, c’mon,” said the Ramirez team.

In the seventh, De Gracia was really pressing, energetic, making Ramirez work hard. The matador stabbed some good counters, too. To the eighth, we saw both missing, and Sho color man Al Bernstein pointed this out at the 1:55 mark. “What technique,” said Paulie Malignaggi when queried about what he was seeing. This was spirited, if a bit sloppy action. Replay action showed a Ramirez counter left landed quite sharply.

In the ninth, we saw Ramirez the better ring general, but sometimes the general got whacked. Then Ramirez swarmed and flurried, and he finished it off. Ref Benjie Esteves saw De Gracia not defending himself adequately, looked into his eyes and saw a glaze. Game over for the power puncher, who got a boxing lesson.