By Jeff Aronow: Josh Taylor believes he’s going to knock out Jose Ramirez in their still yet to be scheduled contest for the undisputed light welterweight championship on ESPN.
IBF/WBA light-welterweight champion Taylor (17-0, 13 KOs) says he’s more skillful and a superior fighter all-around fighter.
Taylor says his fight against the unbeaten WBC/WBO 140-lb champion Ramirez (26-0, 17 KOs) will be taking place in May, but he fears that it’ll take place in front of a half-capacity crowd.
Unfortunately, the pandemic will get in the way of Taylor and Ramirez fighting in front of a full crowd. But there’s not much these two fighters can do about it. They need to get this fight out of the way before they move up to 147.
The winner of the fight is expected to defend against Teofimo Lopez at the end of the year, and that’s a fight that could take place in front of fans.
Josh Taylor: I’m unbeatable right now
“It’s looking like it’s going to be in May, so we’re waiting to find out,” said Taylor to iFL TV on his fight against Jose Ramirez. “I’ve trained all my life for this, and it may be a half-capacity crowd.
“I’ve got my dream fight, and it’s about winning the fight than anything else. I really do believe I’ve going to beat him and knock him out.
“I actually think I’m going to knock him out and become the first undisputed champion in Britain since Ken Buchanan.
“My fellow Scotsman as well. My confidence is through the roof since my last three fights and in that tournament as well. I beat the second-best in that division as well.
“Without getting big-headed, I feel like I’m unbeatable at the moment. I think it’s going to take a real special fighter for me to get beat, or I just have a really bad night,” Taylor said.
Taylor, 30, looked exceptional in his last fight in stopping IBF mandatory challenger Apinun Khongsong in the first round last September at York Hall at Bethnal Green.
Fans didn’t know what they would get from the little-known Khongsong, who had been facing obscure opposition in his native Thailand his entire career. Sure enough, Khongsong wasn’t ready for this kind of a big step up in class against Taylor.
In Taylor’s previous fight against former WBA light welterweight champion Regis Prograis, he struggled to beat him by a 12 round majority decision in 2019.
Prograis made the mistake of trying to slug with Taylor on the inside in the first eight rounds, and he took a beating.
Regis fought well after taking the fight to the outside, beginning in the ninth. He was the naturally faster fighter and got the better of Taylor down the stretch.
Ramirez is up against a “mad Scotsman,” says Taylor
“Everybody keeps saying you’re up against an American with Mexican blood, and Mexican fighters this fighter that fighter,” said Taylor. “Mexicans, they’re tough, they’re known for it, and they’re known for having heart.
“I love Mexicans and respect them, and they’re the greatest fighters in the world, some of them. But what you’ve got to remember is he’s [Ramirez] up against a mad Scotsman,” said Taylor.
“The Romans built a wall to keep us out because we were mental. That’s where I come from. I come from Scotland, we’re a nation of fighting people.
“He’s [Ramirez] up against it as well. He’s up against a man that is hungrier than him, and I feel like I’m a better fighter as well, more skillful, more spiteful.
“And he’s a unified world champion and a good fighter, but I just believe I’ve got the being of him in every department,” Taylor said of Ramirez.
Taylor sounds like he’s going to come out slugging against Ramirez in May, and that may not be the right game plan. Ramirez thrives on going to war with his opponents. In Ramirez’s last fight against Viktor Postol, he had problems with his boxing skills.