Naman Shrestha
The former professional boxer turned coach, Ramon Sosa, was marked for murder by someone close to him, and ‘American Monster: Dance With Me’ and ’48 Hours: Dead Ringer’ cover the same story in detail. When he found out about the target on his back, he worked with the authorities to execute a sting operation to take down the culprit. Both the true crime documentary episodes delve into the investigation that followed and how the boxing coach managed to climb out of his own grave.
Who is Ramon Sosa?
Brought into the world on June 1, 1967, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Ramos Sosa grew up in a loving home along with his parents and three siblings, exposed to the vibrant culture of the island for the first five years of his life. After that, he and his family moved to Brooklyn, New York, in order to improve their lives while still clinging to their original principles. At the age of seven, he started to develop an interest in boxing, which soon turned into an obsession as soon as he excelled in the sport like a natural, thanks to his innate skill and passion.
Soon, Ramon turned pro, aged 17, competing in more than 100 amateur fights. After his move to Texas, he tried out his luck in professional boxing, only to find out that it just wasn’t for him. As the passion for the sport was still instilled in him, he decided to establish a non-profit organization — Young Prospects Boxing — that focused on training amateur and professional boxers. Meanwhile, he continued his education and chased the American Dream, along with his wife and his three children.
Unfortunately, Ramon’s first marriage only lasted for a few years, officially ending in 2000. Having given up hope in love, he was solely focused on his work for the following years, but only until he met with a beautiful woman named Maria de Lourdes Dorantes AKA “Lulu” at a local Latin nightclub in 2007. He started seeing the mother of three, and before he realized it, he bent his knee to propose marriage. The in-love couple tied the knot in 2009, a couple of years after they started dating. Just a year later, Ramon opened yet another gym, this time with his new wife Lulu, and called it Woodlands Boxing and Fitness.
However, just three years into the marriage, Ramon started to notice a few cracks between him and Lulu. But he got to know the extent of the situation with the help of one of his clients named Mundo, to whom he was a mentor and inspiration. He was also a friend to Lulu, who complained about her husband to him. Once she filed for divorce in March 2015, Lulu started conversing about hiring a hitman to get rid of Ramon with her teenage daughter. Upon overhearing the same, Mundo jumped in and confronted Lulu, who claimed she was being physically abused by her estranged husband and wished for him to disappear. Mundo decided to play along and told her that he would help her hire a hitman to carry out the job.
However, Mundo was loyal to Ramon, so he warned him about Lulu’s plans, and they started working on gathering enough evidence to have the police involved. Secretly, they started collecting texts and recording conversations of Lulu talking about hiring a hitman to present them to the investigators who realized that it was indeed a serious matter. Trying to get the job done before the divorce was finalized, Lulu was thinking about the money she was going to get after Ramon’s death. So, the authorities brought in an undercover investigator who posed as a hitman working for Lulu.
In July 2015, Lulu set up a meeting with the undercover officer and paid him with cash, jewelry, and watches to carry out the killing of her husband, Ramon. To make Lulu believe she had gotten what she wanted and create an airtight case against her, the authorities went on to stage Ramon’s fake death. They took pictures of him having a gunshot wound on his temple, his hands tied, and a bit of dirt on his head to make it seem real. During the follow-up meeting with Lulu after the fake murder of Ramon at a parking lot, the fake hitman showed the photo that confirmed her husband’s death.
Laughing out with joy, Lulu paid the undercover agent the rest of the amount. Since all of this was secretly recorded on a hidden camera, the authorities had enough incriminating evidence against her to arrest her the next day, July 23, 2015, for committing solicitation of capital murder. Finally, Ramon and Lulu’s divorce was finalized, while the former got to keep his gym and his house. Over a year later, in October 2016, she pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Ramon Sosa is a Public Speaker and Author Today
After the excruciating case, Ramon’s story went viral all around the world and he was featured in many interviews and news articles, including on ESPN, CBS 48 Hours, Fuji TV in Japan, Univision, Telemundo, and Inside Edition. Ever since then, he has used the attention he gets and the platform he has to raise awareness, as a sought-after public speaker, about all the men stuck in abusive and manipulative relationships.
In April 2019, he even published a book, accounting for his true crime case and experiences, titled ‘I Walked on My Own Grave.’ He had the opportunity to share his story through his book at the 2023 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, an opportunity he was grateful for. For his 56th birthday, he went for a little vacation back in his motherland, Puerto Rico. Supposed to be dead in 2015, Ramon claims that he is living his best life as of now, focusing on his health and trying to enjoy life as best as he can.
Read More: Where Is Lulu Sosa Now?
