By Craig Daly: Jose Ramirez says he’d be willing to still fight WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis for a 45-45 split with 10% going to the contest’s winner.
Apart from that, Ramirez (27-1, 17 KOs) says he wants to fight Teofimo Lopez or Arnold Barboza Jr next. Ramirez has two fights left on his Top Rank contract, and he wants to fight Teofimo and Barboza Jr before he moves up to 147.
It’s doubtful that Top Rank will let the vulnerable Teofimo walk the plank by fighting Ramirez because that’s a fight that Teo likely loses. Teofimo is looking like a head case right now, and he needs to get things together before fighting a quality guy like Ramirez.
He mentioned possibly signing with a new promotional company that is well-stocked with 147-pounders, which could mean that Ramirez might end up with Premier Boxing Champions [PBC] if he doesn’t re-sign with Top Rank.
“I haven’t made under a million since 2018,” said Jose Ramirez to ESNEWS. “I fought the best. I fought the winner of that tournament [Josh Taylor and lost]. If Regis had been the winner of the tournament, I would have fought Regis then.
“I petitioned for 45-45 with 10% of the gross going to the winner,” said Ramirez about the Prograis fight. “Give me a one and a half, and I’ll fight Regis Prograis. That’s what my minimum is. We’ll do 10% of the top goes to the winner. He can make 55%, and I can make 45% if he can beat me. That’s it. 10% will go to the winner. People push on him. Regis, take the fight. It’s that simple.
“He’s a good fighter, but unfortunately, he’s with a promoter that doesn’t have a network. Unfortunately for me, I’m with a promoter that doesn’t work with his promoter.
“Most definitely, 100%,” said Ramirez when asked if he’d be interested in fighting Devin Haney if he moved up to 140. “I would love to fight Devin Haney. I would love to fight Regis Prograis. I would love to fight all those guys, as long as the terms are fair for both of us. We both got to eat. We can’t be fighting for free.
“Regis Prograis fought Redkach when I was fighting [Josh] Taylor at the time,” said Ramirez.
Regis Prograis:
“45-55?” I’ll take it,” said Prograis when asked if he’d be willing to fight Ramirez for a 55-45 split. “What happened to the offer that we just had [65-35]? Why didn’t you take that? That’s what the WBC said. They put a rule in for it.
“That’s what it’s supposed to be. That’s the rules that the WBC made. Y’all knew that going into it. Listen, I’m fighting whoever they tell me. I’m going by the rules. If you was the champion, I would do whatever the rules.
“I tried to fight you [in 2018] so bad. You didn’t want to fight me.”
Jose Ramirez:
“In 2018, I didn’t know who you were, and you probably didn’t know who I was. When I became a world champion, I didn’t have no idea who you were. I had no idea about politics. I fought for 125,000 against Amir Imam to become a world champion. So why didn’t you pursue a purse bid?”
Prograis:
“I tried to fight you, bro. Your promoter, Top Rank, put a show for me in New Orleans. You forgot that? You know that, right? I knew you weren’t going to fight me.”
Ramirez:
“I didn’t know who you were, Regis.”
Prograis:
“You were #1 WBC, I was #2. Amir Imam was #3 and Viktor Postol was #4, right? The WBC mandated you and Amir Imam [for the 140-lb title]. #1 and #3 for the real title. They mandated me vs. Postol. #2 and #4 for the interim.
“After that, I was mandatory for you. I was supposed to fight you, and it didn’t happen.”
Ramirez:
“Why didn’t you pursue the purse bid if you were mandatory? Why didn’t you?”
Prograis:
“I don’t know about that? What do you mean? All I know is I wanted to fight you. I didn’t know about purse bids at the time. All I said is I want to fight you. Why did your promoter [Top Rank] give me my own show?”
Ramirez:
“Probellum doesn’t have a network. Why doesn’t Probellum send me an offer?”
Prograis:
“I don’t do business. I’m a fighter. Maybe you know about the business more than me. I don’t know about business s**t, bro. I’m a fighter.”
Ramirez:
“When you went to the tournament, I was just like you. I’ll fight whoever is next. I never got an offer from the tournament personally. bro.”
Prograis:
“You could have got in the tournament. Everybody could have got in the tournament. At the time, it was two belts in and two belts out.”
Ramirez:
“Hooker had the WBO.”
Prograis:
“It was two belts in the tournament and two belts out of the tournament.”
Ramirez:
“I had ESPN and Hooker had Matchroom Boxing. You guys didn’t have a platform.”
Prograis:
“You guys could have went in the tournament.”
Ramirez:
“I never got an offer to go into the tournament. I never got one.”
Prograis:
“So what the story? You never got an offer? You didn’t want to go because you had the network behind you. You had the network.”
Ramirez:
“I was a young guy learning the business, trying to fight. I was trying to maximize my earnings, bro at the time. I promised the fans that I would fight the winner [of the 140-lb tournament, which was Scottish fighter Josh Taylor after his controversial win over Prograis in London, England] in 2019], which I did, right?”
Prograis:
“Right. We could say stuff, but there’s still going to be stuff going on behind closed doors [with the management]. We can say we’re going to fight, but behind the scenes, they’re going to control the s**t. It don’t even matter. We can say, ‘Let’s fight’ and you take the purse. But then when the business stuff starts talking, that s**t don’t happen. But for me, its all talk right now, so it don’t make sense to even talk about the s**t.”
Ramirez:
“What p***ses me off is that I’m being thrown under the bus right now.”
Prograis:
“It’s boxing; everybody gets thrown under the bus. If you look at these comments, some people say I’m ducking, and other people say, your ducking. You’ve got to have tough skin. I hope you have tough skin.
“For me, I’d fight you next, but I saw that it’s not happening. That’s it. I don’t care. Whatever the WBC tells me to do, I’m going to do it. Whoever they tell me I’m going to fight, that’s it. I was expecting you next.
“Now that you’re not next, the next person in line is Teofimo or whoever.”
Ramirez:
“We both could be next. The difference is, I’m not going to risk fighting for 30% of that bull s**t.”
Prograis:
“If it’s a promotional situation with Probellum, what do you want me to do about that? I’m not the business person behind this s**t. I’m just a fighter. I thought I was fighting Ramirez, that’s what I thought.”
Ramirez:
“My contract with my promoter isn’t that far out. Once I’m a free agent, we can look for a promoter that will pay us the most money. I’m not afraid to fight you.”
Prograis:
“If it doesn’t happen next, f**k it. Let it marinate if that’s what they say. I thought I was fighting you next. They told me that Ramirez was next. Mentally, I was preparing for you next. I’ve been wanting to fight your a** for a long time. So, I guess we’ll eventually get it on.”
Ramirez:
“I promise you we will, bro.”
Prograis:
“Yeah, we will eventually. When the time comes, the time comes.”
Ramirez:
“It doesn’t make sense for me to fight the biggest fight and then take a pay cut.”
Prograis:
“Jose, just tell the people that we you’re about to fight me next anyway because you’re about to fight Richard Commey. It’s scheduled. So you already had that up your sleeve anyway. You’re not fighting Richard Commey?”
Ramirez:
“That’s a fight that Top Rank wants to give me to keep me in-house. If Probellum can get a network behind the fight because I have no contract to sign with.
“All my career, I’ve been fighting the best. What makes you think I fear Regis? I set the goal of becoming undisputed, and I came up short. But I’ve never been afraid of fighting no one.
“This is where I get thrown under the bus. Top Rank doesn’t do business with Probellum [Regis Prograis’s promoters]. They don’t care about Probellum or their fighters, and that’s where I’m being thrown under the bus.
“I’ve got two fights with Top Rank, and hopefully, they either give me a big fight with Teofimo, but those are the decisions I’ve got to make. I want to fight Teofimo. What happens with my career if I go with a different promoter that has more 147-pounders? I want to move up to 147.
“I’ve been at 140 for all my career. It’s time for me to get bigger and let my body get big. There are great fights I can make with Top Rank. There’s Arnold Barboza. I’ll fight Arnold Barboza in the summer. I’ll fight him in the summer or Teofimo in the summer. Those are great fights that will generate in-house money. I’m not afraid of fighting nobody,” said Ramirez.