Jose Ramirez to stick it out with Viktor Postol fight

By Boxing News - 04/09/2020 - Comments

By Chris Williams: Jose Ramirez still plans on going ahead with his fight with Viktor Postol despite the match having been twice postponed. WBC/WBO light welterweight champion Ramirez’s goal is to beat the 36-year-old Postol (31-2, 12 KOs), and then face IBF/WBA 140-lb champion Josh Taylor in a clash for the undisputed light welterweight championship.

Ramirez has invested so much wasted energy into fighting Postol, and he has nothing to show for it. Both fights were postponed, and it could be better for Ramirez to cut his losses and give up the WBC belt and move on.

Ramirez putting too much energy into fighting Postol

What we don’t want to see is Ramirez STILL trying to get his WBC commitment against the aging Postol out of the way three years from now. It’s better for Ramirez to move up to 147 and take on fellow Top Rank fighter Terence Crawford. If Ramirez is going to lose to someone, it should be Crawford because he’ll get a suitable payday out of the fight.

Some boxing fans believe the Ramirez is jinxed when it comes to the Postol bout. I mean, the fight has been postponed TWICE already, and Top Rank would be making a mistake if they schedule it a third time right now. It will be forlorn if the Ramirez-Postol match gets postponed a third time. You can argue some things just weren’t meant to be, and this fight is a prime example.

Image: Jose Ramirez to stick it out with Viktor Postol fight

Should Ramirez vacate?

All these postponements might be telling Ramirez something. He should move on because he might lose to the tall 5’11” stork-like Postol. When that happens, Ramirez will be back among the contenders, and who knows if he’ll ever win another title again?

Ramirez is a good fighter, but he gets hit a lot with his face-first style of fighting. He’s got an old school style of battle that was better suited for a different era. He’s got a Ray’ Boom Boom’ Mancini style of fighting, which is not a great style for this day and age.

If Ramirez could punch like Kostya Tszyu or Julian Jackson, then his style wouldn’t be such a liability, but he can’t. Ramirez is more of a blue-collar type of fighter, who has average power, and he wins his fights by using his volume punching to outwork his opponents.

Let Postol scramble for the WBC strap against #2 WBC Regis Prograis. It’s doubtful Postol beats Prograis. You can argue that it would be a mismatch.

If Ramirez (25-0, 17 KOs) is unbeaten in those two fights, then he’ll move up to 147 to attempt to unify all the belts ni that weight class as well. Few boxing fans believe that Ramirez (25-0, 17 KOs) will be unbeaten at even beating 2012 Olympian Taylor (16-0, 12 KOs), let alone moving up to 147 to unify the division up there.

Image: Jose Ramirez to stick it out with Viktor Postol fight

Ramirez making a mistake going after Josh Taylor

Taylor, 29, is on another level than Ramirez right now, and it would be a wrong move for the American to take that fight. If the idea is for Ramirez to move up to welterweight to go after the bigger paydays, he would be better off moving up while he’s still unbeaten rather than coming off of a loss to Taylor. Fans want to see Ramirez vacate his two titles at 140 and save himself the embarrassment of losing to Taylor.

Ramirez already almost lost to Jose Zepeda last year in February 2019 in Fresno, California. The 27-year-old Ramirez was given a controversial 12 round majority decision over Zepeda in that bout.

But even if you were one of the few boxing fans that agreed with the decision, the fact that Ramirez barely beat Zepeda showed how limited he is as a fighter. Taylor and Regis Prograis would likely have a field day against Zepeda (31-2, 25 KOs).

“I had a plan to fight three times. I was happy I was going to start early and hopefully move to the 147 division next year,” said Ramirez to Top Rank Boxing. “It throws me off and sets me back.

I think I owe it to myself to fight for all the belts,” said Ramirez. “If I were to move up to the next weight class, people would still doubt who’s the best 140-pounder, because there’s another guy with two belts.”

Ramirez doesn’t owe it to himself to try and unify the light welterweight division. He owes it to himself to be smart, and to understand that he doesn’t match up well against Taylor or Prograis.

Ramirez is a good slugger, but his style isn’t a good one for the top level of the 140 or 147-lb divisions.

Image: Jose Ramirez to stick it out with Viktor Postol fight

Jose wants to prove his doubters wrong

“I want to prove a lot of people wrong; I want to do it for myself,” said Ramirez about his goal of unifying the 140-lb division. “And I know I can be the best 140-pounder in the world, I can see myself with all those belts. And once I do that, it’ll put my name more out there worldwide, and make a stronger impact at 147, knowing the undisputed world champ is moving up from 140.”

Well, if Ramirez stays around the 140-lb division until Prograis and Taylor both move up to 147, then he would have a shot of being the best in the division. But even then, it wouldn’t be a given that Ramirez would take the spot as the #1 fighter at light-welterweight.

The wheels could come off the Ramirez express against a tough fighter like Ivan Baranchyk, Mario Barrios, Subriel Matias, or Pablo Cano.

Ramirez might not even have enough ability to beat Postol, but fighting at home in Fresno, California, will significantly increase his chances of winning if it goes 12 rounds.

Ramirez hasn’t said what his plan-B would be if/when he loses to Taylor. What happens then? Does Ramirez stick it out at 140 and push Top Rank to force a rematch with Taylor or does he give it up, and decide to slog it out at 140 for the rest of his career?

Taylor is signed with Top Rank as well, and that makes it possible that Ramirez could have a rematch with him if he loses. I don’t think it would be a good idea for Ramirez to fight Taylor again if he gets taken to school by the Scottish fighter. But if Ramirez is concerned with proving his doubters wrong, anything is possible.

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