Shera Mae Patricio is looking to pave the way for her family in the pros.
Next up for the unbeaten bantamweight is a showdown with Maribel Ramirez on Saturday at Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York.
Patricio, 7-0 (3 KOs), is the oldest of eight children, all of whom box competitively.
She has five brothers, including highly touted amateur Lorenzo Patricio, who is competing for Team USA at the Strandja 2026 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Patricio credits a stellar amateur career, topped off with 11 national championships, for being ready for her upcoming bout.
“All seven of my siblings box,” Patricio told BoxingScene. “We are all national champions.”
The next goal for Patricio, a 23-year-old from Waianae, Hawaii, is to extend her amateur success into a professional career. Although proud of her amateur career, it isn’t meant to be her final highlight.
“I have my siblings around, and they help motivate me and push each other,” said Patricio, who is trained by her father Lyndon. “Our whole team is a family, we are strong as one, and we push each other to the top.”
A Filipino-American fighting on a Manny Pacquiao promotion and striving to uphold her family’s growing fight legacy, Patricio could be forgiven for feeling added pressure beyond just winning her next fight. But she has a different outlook.
“I feel God made his purpose for me, and I have the road to do it,” Patricio said. “It is not that much pressure on me. I am built for this.”
Patricio’s camp started in Hawaii before she traveled to Colorado to support her brothers fighting in a national tournament. She headed to Philadelphia a little before fight week, a much shorter trip to Verona.
Mexico City’s Ramirez, 15-13-4 (3 KOs), is currently on a three-fight losing streak. Her tough run began with a lopsided defeat to current WBO women’s 115lbs titleholder Mizuki Hiruta.
Although obviously hopeful for a career revival, Ramirez, 39, is very clearly at the gatekeeper stage. (The professional experience gap is clear: Patricio has been 32 rounds as a pro; Ramirez, on the other hand, has gone 239 rounds.)
“I know she has a lot of experience, but my past opponents that I recently fought were veterans as well,” Patricio said.
Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.