By Dan Ambrose: Jose Ramirez will face Richard Commey next on March 25th at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. Ramirez (27-1, 17 KOs) passed up on a guaranteed title shot against WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis to fight the 35-year-old Commey (30-4-1, 27 KOs), whose record is 1-2-1 in his last four fights.
Fighting Commey instead of Prograis won’t help Ramirez’s popularity, but at least it’s saving him from another loss. If Ramirez lacked the confidence to beat Prograis, going after an easier target in Commey is the ticket to keep his career alive and the money flowing in for headliner spots on ESPN.
According to Mike Coppinger, the former WBC/WBO 140-lb champion Ramirez (27-1, 17 KOs) and former IBF 135-lb champion Commey have agreed to a deal for them to battle in a bout in the light welterweight division.
Ramirez, 30, turned down a fight with WBC champion Prograis because he was unhappy with the 65-35 split and wanted a 50-50 deal as the challenger, who Josh Taylor had recently beaten.
Although Ramirez left the door open for a future fight with Prograis, it appears he’s angling for a rematch with WBO 140-lb champion Taylor. He lost to Taylor by a 12 round majority decision in May 2021 for the undisputed 140-lb championship.
Since that fight, Ramirez’s career has slowed, with him fighting just once, beating Jose Pedraza by a 12 round unanimous decision last year in March in Fresno.
“Jose Ramirez and Richard Commey have agreed to a deal for a March 25 fight in Fresno, California,” said Mike Coppinger to ESPN. “The Top Rank Boxing on ESPN main event will take place at the Save Mart Center.
“Commey landed the assignment after Ramirez passed up on a title fight against Regis Prograis due to the purse split.”
Fighting Commey won’t help Ramirez get a better split with Prograis if he chooses to revisit negotiations later.
It would have been better if Ramirez had chosen to fight someone higher ranked rather than Commey, because this match-up is going to make his rejection of a title shot against Prograis look all the worse.
Ramirez should, at the minimum, have picked one of these fighters for his March 25th contest to avoid being seen as an avoidant cherry picker:
- Jose Zepeda
- Arnold Barboza
- Teofimo Lopez
- Subriel Matias
- Gary Antuanne Russell
- Sandor Martin
- Steve Spark