By Charles Brun: Jose Ramirez didn’t like how Josh Taylor behaved during their face-off on Thursday at their final press conference before Saturday’s fight in Las Vegas. One got the sense from watching Ramirez during the face-off. He’s not comfortable being stared at the way Taylor was doing.
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The impression that Ramirez, 28, got from Taylor is that he was looking to gain an edge by playing mind games in hopes that he can get to him.
We already saw Taylor almost lose to the last American he fought when he took on former WBA 140lb champion Regis Prograis in 2019. At the end of the fight, there was very little to separate the two fighters.
Once Prograis figured Taylor out, he controlled all of the second half of the fight virtually. He discovered that Taylor isn’t a great fighter at medium to long-range, which is how Prograis got the better of him.
Prograis gave away too many early rounds and ultimately was the reason for his narrow defeat.
Ramirez said that Taylor (18-0, 13 KOs) talked about his weight, telling him he looked chunky during the face-off.
Taylor acted and seemed to bully WBC/WBO light welterweight champion Ramirez (26-0, 17 KOs), showing little in the way of respect.
Afterward, Ramirez told the boxing media that Taylor showed the kind of person he is, and he feels that a person at that level should know how to behave.
Ramirez and Taylor will be meeting for the undisputed 140-lb championship on Saturday in the main event on ESPN at the Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ramirez unhappy with Taylor’s behavior
“He was saying something about my weight, and that it was going to be hard to make weight and that I looked pretty chunky,” said Jose Ramirez to Fighthub about what Josh Taylor said to him during Thursday’s face-off at the final press conference.
“I’m 141 right now, and I’ve never had problems making weight. I’ve never missed weight in any of my fights, and I’ve always been very disciplined in making weight.
“I don’t know if he’s trying to look for an advantage for himself for confidence. He has his own issues to worry about.
“Nah, I’m a respectful guy,” said Ramirez when Taylor said that he looked “nervous” during the face-off.
“The thing about me, I’m going to be respectful at all times. I’m not going to be one person here, one person there, and someone different. I know who I am, and I’m going to be the same person,” said Ramirez.
It was disturbing to see Taylor acting menacingly during the face-off with Ramirez. It was easy to see that he was trying to intimidate Ramirez, and he clearly mistook his gentleman-like behavior as a sign of weakness.
Taylor is not a gentleman, says Ramirez
“He got a little loudmouth,” said Ramirez when asked if he felt disrespected by Taylor during the face-off. “It just shows me the kind of guy he is. He’s kind of cheap, to be honest. He’s not a gentleman.
“Everybody comes to a fight hoping to win. We’ll see what happens,” Ramirez said in reacting to Taylor predicting a knockout win.
“I feel very confident in myself, I had a great training camp, and I feel stronger than ever. We’ll see as soon as he feels my power.
“It was nothing for me, it was for him,” said Ramirez when asked if he was ‘fired up’ due to the way Taylor showed him no respect during the face-off. “It just kind of shows the type of person he really is.
“I think someone at this level of competition should behave more like a champion, do you know what I mean? To each his own, that’s who he is.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if I do stop him,” said Ramirez. “I have the power. My power,” said Ramirez when asked ‘what will be the deciding factor on Saturday.’ “I’m a lot bigger.”
Ramirez has too much experience as a professional and in the amateur ranks for him to be scared enough where he won’t fight hard on Saturday.