By Jeff Aronow: Josh Taylor beats Jose Ramirez handily in their light-welterweight undisputed championship fight in early 2021, predicts Regis Prograis. The date for the Taylor vs. Ramirez fight has yet to be decided by the promoters at Top Rank, but May is when the two are expected to meet up.
He’s seen enough of both fighters to know that IBF/WBA 140lb champion Taylor (17-0, 13 KOs) has too much talent on offense for him to be overcome by WBC/WBO champ Ramirez (26-0, 17 KOs).
Former WBA 140-lb champion Prograis (25-1, 21 KOs) has his eyes on the Tayor vs. Ramirez fight, as he’d like to fight the winner for all four titles.
It’s better for Prograis, 32, if Taylor beats Ramirez, considering that will give him a chance to avenge his 12 round majority decision defeat by Josh in October 2019.
Prograis believes that he did enough to deserve a victory against Tayor in their fight, which was the final of the World Boxing Super Series in London, England.
Josh Taylor defeats Jose Ramirez, says Regis
“I got Taylor,” said Prograis to iFL TV when asked to pick the Josh Taylor vs. Jose Ramirez unification fight. winner
“The only thing about Taylor, he has [too much courage], and if he has that, it may work against him. With Taylor, I fought him. He’s big, he’s strong, and he’s good on the inside.
“But if he tries to do that against Ramirez, I don’t know how it’ll pan out. I’ve never been in the ring with Ramirez.
“I don’t know how strong he is, but I think if Josh Taylor tries to box him, he should do it easy. As a southpaw, he’s tall, he’s a long, rangy southpaw.
“I think he should be able to beat Ramirez kind of with ease. Of course, I don’t know. I’ve never been in with Ramirez, and I don’t know his power and what it’s like,” said Prograis.
Things could go wrong for Josh Taylor if he tries to go to war with Ramirez on the inside or at a medium distance.
Although Ramirez has had a couple of close calls in his fights against Jose Zepeda and Viktor Postol, he’s done well against fighters that have brawled with him. Taylor is known for being the type of fighter that is easily drawn into wars.
Thus far, Taylor has gotten away with his habit of battling it out against his opposition, but he may run out of luck if he chooses to do that against Ramirez. That’s the California native’s preferred way of fighting.
Prograis: Taylor wins easily if he stays outside
“I respect Ramirez a lot as a champion, but I’m just not a fan of his. I just don’t think he’s very good, and I never did. He ran from me for a long time.
“I don’t think he’s that good. He’s definitely elite, but I don’t think he can beat Josh Taylor.
“We’ll see, but if Josh Taylor stays on the outside and sticks him with a jab, keeps him on a southpaw angle, I think he can potentially beat him easy.
“But if Ramirez hits Josh with a hard shot and Josh wants to go in there and fight him, it might work against him.
“If they’re talking s*** at the weigh-in and all that type of stuff, and he [Taylor] just wants to prove a point, it might work against him to try and fight with Ramirez.
“Ramirez is tough and he wants to keep going. But one thing we know for sure, he [Ramirez] could get outboxed.
“Personally, I think he had two very controversial decisions against [Jose] Zepeda and [Viktor] Postol.
“Both of them, they stayed on the outside and hit him with one-twos all day long. Zepeda had the power, but Postol didn’t have the power.
“Josh Taylor, he has the power. If he’s hitting him constantly with jabs with one-twos all day long, plus he’s a good body puncher, he can really do some damage to Ramirez.
“But if he wants to get on the inside and fight all day, that might be detrimental to him [Taylor]. So I got Josh Taylor winning that fight,” said Prograis.
It might not be possible for Taylor to stay disciplined for an entire 12 round fight without resorting to brawling. It’s what he does, and he’s not going to be able to resist going toe-to-toe with Ramirez during long stretches.
Prograis: Taylor didn’t beat me
“That’s fine, that would be good,” said Prograis when told that Taylor expressed interest in fighting him two or three times.
“As a fighter, he knows it was a real close fight. I think he knows that he got a close decision, but he didn’t really beat me.
As a fighter, you know these things deep down in your heart. That’s why I didn’t take it that bad as a loss because I still didn’t feel like he beat me.
I did what I had to do in his country, and I won’t say anything else about that. I just think that as a fighter, you know If he [Taylor] truly felt like he won, it’s no point for a rematch or three or four fights and stuff.
But he knows I’m a tough competitor, he knows I can punch him, and he knows I was in there with him, and I stuck there.
But three or four fights, that’s cool just like the old days. It’s just like the old days and stuff like that. If that’s a path for us, let it be,” said Prograis.
If you score the fight logically, Prograis did enough to earn a draw, if not a win. He’s the one that took over the fight in the second half of the contest and had Taylor on the retreat mode in the championship rounds.
But given the location of the fight in London, England, coupled with the fact that Taylor is from the UK, it’s not surprising he won.
Prograis should have made the needed adjustments to his game after the first couple of rounds by taking action to the outside.
He spent too much time fighting with Taylor on the inside, where he was no match for the Scottish fighter.