Ricardo Rafael Sandoval (born February 5, 1999) is an American professional boxer. He is the unified flyweight champion, having held the World Boxing Council (WBC) and the World Boxing Association (WBA) titles since July 2025.

Professional boxing career Sandoval made his professional debut against Adalberto Solares on 18 June 2016, and won the fight by a third-round technical knockout. He amassed a 16–0 record during the next three years, with eleven of those fights coming by way of stoppage. Following his step-up fight against Marco Sustaita, Sandoval was scheduled to face Gilbert Gonzalez on 16 November 2019. He won the fight by a fifth-round technical knockout.

Sandoval's sole fight of 2020 came against Raymond Tabugon on 6 February 2020. He won the fight by a seventh-round knockout, stopping Tabugon at the 1:43 minute mark of the round.

Sandoval was scheduled to face one-time WBC flyweight title challenger Jay Harris in an IBF flyweight title eliminator, in the main event of a DAZN card, on 25 June 2021. Despite coming into the fight as a slight underdog, Sandoval nonetheless won the fight by an eight-round knockout. The fight was stopped at the 2:21 minute mark of the round, after Harris was dropped to the canvas twice and was unable to beat the eight count following the second knockdown. Sandoval was scheduled to fight Carlos Buitrago in a stay-busy fight on 4 December 2021. He won the fight by a seventh-round technical knockout.

Sandoval faced David Jiménez in a WBA flyweight title eliminator on 16 July 2022, on the undercard of the Ryan Garcia and Javier Fortuna lightweight bout. Sandoval was knocked down in the eleventh round, which proved to be the pivotal moment of the bout, as he lost the fight by majority decision: Two judges scored the fight 114–112 for Jiménez, while the third judge scored it 113–113. Most ringside observers thought Sandoval won the fight, as well as the odds-makers, who had Sandoval as a +900 favorite to win by the end of the contest.

Sandoval faced Jerson Ortiz on 18 February 2023. He won the fight by a second-round knockout. Sandoval dropped his opponent with a punch to the body in the dying seconds of the round, which left Ortiz unable to rise from the canvas.

On 10 June 2023, Sandoval faced Rocco Santomauro at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California. He won the fight by unanimous decision with the judges awarding Sandoval scores of 98–92, 96–94, and 96–94.

Sandoval faced Victor Efrain Sandoval on 21 October 2023. He won the fight by unanimous decision.

Sandoval was scheduled to have a rematch with Carlos Buitrago in a super flyweight bout on 30 March 2024. He stopped Buitrago after eight rounds. The referee stopped the fight between the eighth and the ninth due to the ringside doctor's observation of the accumulated damage on Buitrago's face.

On 6 July 2024, Sandoval faced Ángel Acosta for the vacant WBC Silver flyweight title. The referee controversially stopped the fight in the 10th and final round, handing Sandoval the victory. "I wasn’t hurt," Acosta said after getting backed to the ropes by Sandoval's pressure. Regardless of the stoppage, the scorecards had Sandoval winning by a wide margin, 88–83, 89–82, and 87–84.

Sandoval was scheduled to defend his WBC Silver flyweight title against Saleto Henderson on 15 February 2025. He won the bout by unanimous decision, with scores of 98–92, 100–90, and 100–90. According to CompuBox, Sandoval outlanded Henderson in total punches, 185 to 78.

WBA and WBC flyweight championship unification Sandoval vs. Teraji Sandoval was scheduled to challenge Kenshiro Teraji for the unified WBA and WBC flyweight championship on 30 July 2025. He overcame a fifth round knockdown to win via split decision. One judge scored the bout 114–113 in favor of Teraji while the other two scored it for Sandoval, 115–112 and 117–110.

Sandoval vs. Yafai Sandoval is scheduled to make the first defense of his unified WBA and WBC flyweight titles against Galal Yafai at Utilita Arena Sheffield in Sheffield, England, on June 6, 2026.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes29Win27–2Kenshiro TerajiSD1230 Jul 202528Win26–2Saleto HendersonUD1015 Feb 202527Win25–2Ángel AcostaKO10 (10), 6 Jul 202426Win24–2Carlos BuitragoRTD8 (10), 30 Mar 202425Win23–2Victor Efrain SandovalUD1021 Oct 202324Win22–2Rocco SantomauroUD1010 Jun 202323Win21–2Jerson OrtizKO2 (10), 18 Feb 202322Loss20–2David JiménezMD1216 Jul 202221Win20–1Carlos Buitrago7 (10), 4 Dec 202120Win19–1Jay Harris8 (12), 25 Jun 202119Win18–1Raymond Tabugon7 (10), 6 Feb 202018Win17–1Gilbert Gonzalez5 (10), 16 Nov 201917Win16–1Marco Sustaita5 (10), 18 Jul 201916Win15–1Christian Aranda Orenday6 (10), 18 Jul 201915Win14–1Abisai Palomo Ochoa4 (6), 24 Nov 201814Win13–1Oscar Vasquez84 May 201813Win12–1Victor Hugo Reyes817 Mar 201812Win11–1Irving Fierro Verdugo2 (8), 9 Feb 201811Win10–1Efrain Gonzalez48 Dec 201710Win9–1Brent Venegas617 Nov 20179Win8–1Pedro Antonio Rodriguez64 Aug 20178Win7–1Oskar Jesus Talla Davalos1 (4), 4 Aug 20177Win6–1Benjamin Solares1 (4), 27 Jan 20176Win5–1Hector Garcia1 (4), 14 Jan 20175Loss4–1Alonso Ceja44 Nov 20164Win4–0Alonso Ronquillo Nunez3 (4), 15 Oct 20163Win3–0Ulises Gabriel Rosales3 (4), 15 Sep 20162Win2–0Hector Garcia1 (4), 19 Aug 20161Win1–0Adalberto Solares3 (4), 18 Jun 2016

See also List of male boxers List of Mexican boxing world champions List of world flyweight boxing champions

References

External links

Ricardo Sandoval - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings at Box.Live