By Chris Williams: WBC light welterweight champion Jose Ramirez (22-0, 16 KOs) will be fighting in two months from now on September 14 against an opponent still to be determined, according to his promoter Bob Arum. He says Ramirez’s opponent will be announced next week from a list of three to four opponents. Arum wants to bring Ramirez back to Fresno, California for the fight.
Ramirez was supposed to defend his World Boxing Council 140 lb. title against #15 WBC Danny O’Connor last Saturday night on ESPN at the Save Mart Arena in Fresno, California. O’Connor, 33, pulled out of the fight after suffering dehydration on Friday while attempting to make weight. It was too short notice for a replacement opponent to be found to face the 25-year-old Ramirez.
Arum wants Ramirez, 25, to fight the day before middleweights Saul Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin fight on September 15. Arum staging Ramirez’s fight the day before the Canelo-Golovkin II rematch will likely attract more interest in Ramirez’s fight due to the attention put on the boxing world by casual fans, who
“He’s going to headline the date,” Arum said to the Fresno Bee. “We’ll be selecting an opponent in the next week and make the announcement, and hopefully we can bring that fight back to Fresno. Our matchmakers had a meeting (Saturday) and have a list of three to four names. Everyone on the list is a good fight for Jose.”
There was no hint from Arum about the possible options for Ramirez’s next fight on September 14, but it’s likely one of these fighters from the WBC’s top 15 rankings:
– Hikodi Okada
– Yves Ulysse Jr.
– Antonio DeMarco
– Alberto Puello
– Mohamed Mimoune
– Antonio Orozco
Those are all contenders in the WBC’s rankings, and each of them is very beatable. DeMarco used to be a decent fighter, but he’s no longer the guy that he once was, which is why he has a very good chance of getting a fight against Ramirez.
The fighters that have little chance of being picked by Top Rank to fight Ramirez are these guys:
– Omar Figueroa
– Adrien Broner – too expensive
– Ryan Martin
– Sergey Lipinets
– Amir Imam – just beaten
The fans want Ramirez to enter the World Boxing Super Series light welterweight tournament, but he doesn’t plan on doing that. Ramirez would gain a huge amount of attention to his career if he were to enter and win the WBSS tournament.
Even with Ramirez off last Saturday’s career at the Save Mart Arena, 10,333 fans turned out to watch the card. Those fans obviously came to see Ramirez, not the co-feature bout, which involved a clumsy, slow and utterly easy to hit Top Rank welterweight Egidijus Kavaliauskas facing Juan Carlos Abreu. That fight was moved to the main event after the Ramirez vs. O’Connor fight was canceled. Ramirez brings in huge numbers of fans, and that’s why Arum is interested in bringing him back to Fresno for the September 14 fight. He can’t put Ramirez in Las Vegas or New York and expect a large crowd to show up.