Ramirez Scores Unanimous Decision Over Pedraza In Fresno

 

In a compelling bout between former Jr. Welterweight world champions, former WBC/WBO Jr. Welterweight world champion Jose Ramirez scored a workmanlike twelve round unanimous decision over former two-division world champion Jose Pedraza on Friday night at the Save Mart Arena in Fresno, CA. An extremely tactical fight from the outset, Ramirez consistently pressed the action throughout, though at times, did have trouble with the defensively elusive Pedraza, who had success landing counter punches as Ramirez came forward. Ultimately, Ramirez’ effective aggression, consistent offense, and ability to control the rhythm of the fight were enough to earn a convincing unanimous decision victory. Official scores were: 116-112 (On all three scorecards) for Jose Ramirez. Jose Ramirez advances to 27-1, with 17 Knockouts. Jose Pedraza falls to 29-4, with 14 Knockouts.

 

Also on this card:

 

2020 United States Heavyweight Olympic Silver Medalist Richard Torrez successfully made his professional debut by scoring a second round knockout of Allen Melson. Torrez scored a knockdown with a left uppercut in the first round, but suffered a deep gash on his forehead as a result of an accidental clash of heads. In round two, Torrez scored two more knockdowns of Melson with left hooks to force a stoppage of the bout. Official time of the stoppage was 1:23 of round two. Richard Torrez advances to 1-0, with 1 Knockout. Allen Melson falls to 6-4, with 3 Knockouts.

 

In a battle of former Featherweight world title challengers, Joet Gonzalez outlasted Jeo Santisima to earn a ninth round stoppage. In what was a grueling inside fight, Gonzalez ultimately got the better of the combat and in the ninth round the bout was stopped as Santisima was taking significant punishment over the previous rounds. Official time of the stoppage was 2:05 of round nine. Joet Gonzalez  advances to 25-2, with 15 Knockouts. Jeo Santisima falls to 21-4, with 18 Knockouts.

 

 

Jr. Lightweight contender Gabriel Flores pounded out a ten round majority decision over Abraham Montoya. Flores seemed to have the advantage over the first six rounds of this bout in out Boxing Montoya and keeping him at distance. As the fight moved to round seven however, Montoya seemed to have a surge on a fatigued Flores. Despite the rally in the latter rounds, Montoya was unable to earn the nod as Flores won the fight earning a decision on two of three official cards. Official scores were 95-95,  (Even) and 96-94 (On two scorecards) in favor of Flores. Gabriel Flores advances to 21-1, with 7 Knockouts. Abraham Montoya falls to 20-3-1, with 14 Knockouts.

 

In an entertaining Lightweight bout that was fought toe to toe from the opening bell, Hector Tanajara and Miguel Contreras fought to an eight round split draw. Tanajara had some success keeping distance from the shorter Contreras early, but it was not long before Contreras bulled his way and forced the fight on the inside where the two fighters engaged nearly non-stop, but with nether being able to stand out clear from the other resulting in the draw. Official scores were: 78-74 (Tanajara), 77-75 (Contreras), and 76-76 (Even). Hector Tanajara advances to 19-1-1, with 5 Knockouts.  Miguel Contreras advances to 11-1-1, with 6 Knockouts.

 

Also in the Lightweight division, Carlos Balderas scored a brutal second round knockout of Aelio Mesquita. Balderas dropped Mesquita in the opening seconds of the fight with a perfectly timed straight right hand. This was followed by a second knockdown in the closing seconds of the round that sent Mesquita down on his back. In round two, a short right hand sent Mesquita down for a third time and the bout was stopped. Official time of the stoppage was :38 of round two. Carlos Balderas advances to 12-1, with 11 Knockouts. Aelio Mesquita falls to 20-7-1, with 18 Knockouts.

 

Rising Middleweight prospect Javier Martinez scored a six round unanimous decision over Donte Stubbs. Martinez generally got the better of the action in a fight that was fought in close for the majority of the bout, but was dropped in the third round with a short right hand. After suffering the first knockdown of his career, Martinez was able to regroup to earn the unanimous decision. Official scores were: 59-56, and 58-55 (On two scorecards in favor of Martinez. Javier Martinez advances to 6-0, with 2 Knockouts. Donte Stubbs falls to 6-4, with 2 Knockouts.

 

In a clash of undefeated Lightweights, Charlie Sheehy scored a first round stoppage of previously unbeaten Johnny Bernal. Sheehy dropped Bernal with a right hand midway through the first round with a right hand and finished the fight with a follow-up barrage. Official time of the stoppage was 2:33 of round one. Charlie Sheehy advances to 2-0, with 2 Knockouts. Johnny Bernal falls to 2-1, with 2 Knockouts.

 

A battle of unbeaten Heavyweights with identical records began the evening as Antonio Mireles scored a second round knockout of previously unbeaten Brandon Hughes. Mireles scored two knockdowns of Hughes in the first round each as a reach of left hands to the head. Although Hughes tried to hang in there, he was unable to avoid the left hand and following a third knockdown in round two from a series of left hands the bout was stopped. Official time of the stoppage was 1:04 of round two. Antonio Mireles advances to 3-0 with 3 Knockouts. Brandon Hughes falls to 2-1, with 2 Knockouts.

 

For Jose Ramirez, his victory over former Jr. Lightweight and Lightweight world champion Jose Pedraza, his first since suffering his only career loss in a unification bout last year against now Undisputed Jr. Welterweight world champion Josh Taylor last year, would seem to move him right back into title contention. This is both due to the fact that he returned to the win column as well as the likelihood of Taylor, who is coming off of a controversial split decision victory over previously unbeaten Jack Catterall, one week ago, is eying a move up from the 140lb. Jr. Welterweight division to the 147lb. Welterweight division to chase a possible showdown with undefeated WBO Welterweight world champion Terence Crawford, ironically, the last man to fully unify the Jr. Welterweight division before Taylor was able to against Ramirez.

 

What this means for Jose Ramirez and even Jose Pedraza is if Taylor does move up in weight, four vacated world championships that currently make up the Undisputed Jr. Welterweight world championship will become available to be filled amongst former world champions and top contenders, with obviously more room to maneuver for those closer to the front of the line in terms of rankings than those who are not. Seeing as Ramirez’ fight with Pedraza was billed as an elimination bout in the World Boxing Council (WBC) Jr. Welterweight ratings, it is not hard to envision Ramirez fighting for a vacant WBC world championship in his next fight should Taylor vacate his crown. Whom that fight for Ramirez could possibly be against obviously remains to be seen and depends on what Josh Taylor decides he wants to do.

 

“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”

 

The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.

 

Follow Beau Denison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison

 

The Aftermath: Ramirez-Taylor

 

With much of the Boxing world setting it’s attention on events occurring outside of the ring that are all too often the subject of criticism and ridicule that the sport for the worse and not the better seems to deal with constantly, with the world still dealing with the ongoing global COVID-19 epidemic, all attention for one evening was set on the Virgin Hotel in Las Vegas, NV for an event that unfortunately is too rare in Boxing. A unification bout to determine one “Undisputed World Champion.”

 

In this instance, this event, which took place on May 22^nd, occurred in the 140lb. Jr. Welterweight division. While the history of the division is one that has seen many memorable battles and legendary champions that have been chronicled on more than one occasion by this observer, all the ingredients that make an event of this magnitude special and unfortunately a rarity were present here. Two undefeated world champions, each in their prime and each held in high regard putting their respective portions of the Jr. Welterweight championship of the world on the line to determine one champion. There was also the element of this being what appeared on paper to be an encounter between two evenly matched boxer/punchers in WBC/WBO world champion Jose Ramirez and IBF/WBA world champion Josh Taylor.

 

As readers may recall in previewing this fight, this observer stated that the scenario that came to my mind in thinking of how this bout could be fought was one that would be a tactical battle due to the similarities of both fighters where the ebb and flow could shift back and forth throughout. Early in the fight, this essentially appeared to be exactly how the fight would be fought with both fighters having periods of success in the same rounds that appeared to indicate that this could be a difficult fight to score if it went the twelve round distance.

 

An aspect that I perhaps was not expecting that turned out to be a subtle, yet significant difference as the fight progressed was the advantage in hand speed that Taylor was able to use so effectively along with his timing. Ramirez seemed to have trouble navigating a way to get his punches off without having to sustain some form of punishment as he threw those shots. This can be attributed to not only Taylor’s hand speed, but also how effective he was in using angles and his legs to set opportunities up.

 

One such opportunity occurred in round six when Taylor dropped Ramirez with a perfectly timed counter left hook as he was coming forward that sent Ramirez down to the canvas. Despite appearing hurt, Ramirez to his credit was able to get up and stepped up his aggression. Although much of the story of this fight in this observer’s view became the performance of Josh Taylor as it progressed, Ramirez was very effective when he was able to land offense to Taylor’s body. He was not however, able to sustain an attack to the body for significant periods of time and this in part can be attributed to Taylor being able to avoid getting caught on the ropes or in corners for lengthy periods.

 

In round seven, Taylor would widen his advantage by scoring his second knockdown of the fight with a short left uppercut coming out of a clinch. While this occurred shortly after Referee Kenny Bayless called for separation, the punch did not occur on the break and was a legal blow that put Ramirez down for a second time. Although this knockdown appeared to my eyes to indicate that Ramirez was in trouble, he was able to pull himself together and survive the round. While some may however, question why the uppercut was a legal punch, it is as elementary a command as exists in Boxing, “Protect yourself at all times.” A slight opening by Ramirez who had put his guard down for only a moment, was all that Taylor needed to take advantage.

 

By this point in the fight, I felt Taylor was comfortably ahead based largely on having two 10-8 rounds scored in his favor due to the knockdowns in rounds six and seven. In terms of points, two 10-8 rounds is equal to four rounds scored by a margin of 10-9 that does not have knockdowns. Based on this as well as my feeling that Taylor got the better of the action in the first two rounds, I felt he had a lead on the scorecards. Ramirez’ best rounds of the fight in my view were rounds three through five where he was able to land the harder punches of the two in part due to the periodic offense he was able to land to Taylor’s body.

 

From rounds eight through twelve, the fight appeared to resemble what this observer felt would be the case going in, a closely fought battle where the ebb and flow would turn frequently. Even though Ramirez managed to put together a late rally in the latter stages of the fight, the two knockdowns against him ultimately proved to be the difference as all three judges turned in identical scores of 114-112 in favor of Josh Taylor making him the Undisputed Jr. Welterweight champion of the world. Shortly after the decision was announced, I commented on social media that it was my view that I could not see how the official scoring could be as narrow as it was based largely on the two knockdown rounds in rounds six and seven.

 

While this was a moot point as I did agree with the judges in terms of who they had winning this fight, unofficially, I had Taylor winning by a slightly wider margin 116-110  based not only on the knockdowns, but the overall success has was able to have over the first half of the fight. The questions regarding the scoring aside, what should not be overlooked is after the fight rather than hearing grievances, both fighters embraced and showed each other the respect they both deserve after taking part in what was a competitive fight, but one where one fighter simply had a better night than the other.

 

Although it is not out of the realm of possibility that Taylor and Ramirez could meet again in the ring down the road, an interesting possibility that now exists for Taylor could be an encounter with undefeated WBO Welterweight world champion Terence Crawford, the man who previously unified the Jr. Welterweight division before moving up in weight. Obviously, there are two things to consider here in regard to a potential Crawford-Taylor showdown. Firstly, having accomplished what Crawford had down previously, will Taylor be willing to relinquish his undisputed championship to challenge him for his world championship in the 147lb. Welterweight division. Would there be a possibility of the two fighters meeting in between where perhaps both their world championships would be at stake, a rarity that is even more rare than an undisputed world championship bout. 

 

The second thing to consider if Josh Taylor is intent on staying at 140lbs. is usually after a weight class is fully unified, Boxing’s respectful sanctioning organizations normal have mandatory title dense obligations lined up on a rotating annual basis. It will be interesting to see if one such mandatory defense whether it be against the top contender in the World Boxing Council (WBC), World Boxing Association (WBA), the International Boxing Federation (IBF), and World Boxing Organization’s (WBO) respective ratings would take place before a potential showdown with Crawford.

 

After emerging as a unified world champion in winning the World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) Jr. Welterweight tournament in 2019, and successfully unifying the Jr. Welterweight championship of the world to become an undisputed world champion by defeating Jose Ramirez, the sky may indeed be the limit for Josh Taylor. No matter what he does next, lucrative opportunities are surely to follow.

 

“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”

 

The Boxing Truth®️ is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.

 

Follow Beau Denison on Twitter: www.twiiter.com/Beau_Denison

 

 

 

 

Ramirez-Taylor: The Undisputed Jr. Welterweight Championship Of The World

 

All too often in the sport of Boxing, the politics of the sport for better or worse depending on one’s perspective tend to stand in the way of progress. The world “Progress” more often than not in Boxing usually means the pursuit for fighters to become not just a world champion, but to achieve what is a difficult goal, to become the one and only world champion in a weight division. To become “Undisputed.”

 

Due largely to the aforementioned element of politics that surround the sport, a world champion becoming truly “Undisputed” is rare. Perhaps more of a rarity is when an undisputed champion vacates their crown to seek accolades in a different weight class, where the reunification process of the crown they leave behind takes place in a relatively short period of time. The 140lb. Jr. Welterweight division is experiencing one such occurrence. Following undefeated undisputed world champion Terence Crawford successfully unifying the division in August 2017 with a third round knockout of IBF world champion Julius Indongo, Crawford immediately vacated the crown to set his sights on the 147lb. Welterweight division, where in his next fight, he knocked out WBO world champion Jeff Horn in June 2018.

 

For the Jr. Welterweights, Crawford’s exit created opportunities for fighters to compete for vacant world championships and the reunification process began. On this relatively brief journey, the Boxing world was treated to a memorable unification battle featuring Undefeated WBC champion Jose Ramirez successfully unifying his world championship by scoring a knockout of previously unbeaten WBO world champion Maurice Hooker in 2019. 

 

Undefeated  Josh Taylor, who spent the years of 2018 and 2019 competing in the highly-acclaimed World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) emerged out of that tournament, the second season of the WBSS concept, which featured tournaments in both the Jr. Welterweight division and the 118 Bantamweight division, as a unified world champion in his own right having won the IBF world championship and then successfully unifying it by scoring a twelve round majority decision over previously unbeaten WBA world champion Regis Prograis in the tournament final in October 2019. While this reunification process was largely streamlined by the WBSS concept, it was halted by the ongoing COVID-19 global epidemic that began in 2019 and unfortunately continues throughout the world in present day.

 

As much of the world including all of sports was brought to a halt for significant stretches throughout 2020, hopes for a quick undisputed championship fight between Ramirez and Taylor was obviously delayed. As the sport of Boxing began attempting to resume activity under the circumstances of COVID-19, both world champions were able to resume their respective careers. Ramirez returned to action in August of last year with a twelve round majority decision victory over former WBC Jr. Welterweight world champion Viktor Postol. In what was a close fight, Ramirez’ harder punches and general activity allowed him to retain his crown.

 

Taylor meanwhile, returned to the ring one month later and scored a first round knockout of Apinun Khongsong. A bout which Taylor ended with a left hook to the body.  All off this including one title defense each for both world champions has finally culminated in the eventual showdown as Ramirez and Taylor will meet on Saturday, May 22^nd at the Virgin Hotel in Las Vegas, NV to determine the Undisputed Jr. Welterweight championship of the world.

 

The fight, which will be broadcast in the United States on digital subscription sports streaming network ESPN+as well as simulcast on the main ESPN network on cable and satellite, is frankly one of the better bouts that could be made in the sport. An evenly matched battle between two boxer/punchers who each have the ability to end a fight quickly as well as implement a Boxing strategy to win a fight on the scorecards.

 

In thinking of how this bout could be fought, the scenario came to my mind that this could be a tactical battle where the ebb and flow might shift several times throughout. This is due to both fighters similarities as boxer/punchers and each having the ability to change tactics as a fight progresses. While Ramirez, who will enter the fight with a record of 26-0, with 17 Knockouts has boxed thirty six more total rounds in his career compiling 127 total rounds compared to Taylor who has boxed 91 total rounds, and has an overall experience edge having fought nine more bouts than Taylor, who will enter the fight with a record of 17-0, with 13 Knockouts, stylistically, this appears at least on paper to be an even fight.

 

 If one were to look at something that could be an edge for Taylor compared to Ramirez experience and overall ring time, it would be in the career knockout percentage category in that Josh Taylor has established a career knockout percentage of nearly 77% compared to Ramirez’ 65%. Although these are simply statistics, what it does indicate is just how even this fight looks even though there are slight edges in favor of each fighter. Of course, as this observer has often said over the years, “Anything can happen at any given time in the sport of Boxing, and that is what makes the sport great.”, if this does evolve into a closely fought battle that it appears might be the case, we might see a fight that not only ends up close in terms of scoring, but to be more specific, one where who wins rounds may be determined by segments in each round assuming both fighters are able to have periods of success.

 

What is even more telling about this fight beyond by all accounts what appears to be a Fight of the Year candidate on paper is for a rare instance, the sport of Boxing and the politics that surround it have allowed a quick reunification process to occur that was only delayed by circumstances of an ongoing global crisis that even the most jaded and cynical critics of the sport will acknowledge was out of everyone’s control at least in terms of the running and day to day business of an individual sport.  If however, Ramirez-Taylor ends up being a memorable battle and is such that it demonstrates to not only promoters, but fighters, the respective sanctioning organizations that regulate and sanction world championship bouts, and competing television/streaming networks as to the benefits of unification to determine one world champion per weight class, it could be summed up with one simple word. “Progress.”

 

“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”

 

Ramirez vs. Taylor takes place on Saturday, May 22^nd at the Virgin Hotel in Las Vegas, NV. In the United States, the card can be seen on digital subscription sports streaming network ESPN+ beginning at 4:45PM ET/1:45PM PT. The main portion of the card, which will feature the Ramirez-Taylor main event will be simulcast on the main ESPN network across cable and satellite providers beginning at 8:30PM ET/5:30PM PT. (U.S. Times,) For more information about ESPN+ including schedules, lists of compatible streaming devices, and to subscribe please visit: https://plus.espn.com. 

 

Outside of the United States, the card can be seen globally on digital combat sports streaming network FITEon a pay-per-view basis for £12.99. For more information about about how to order please visit: https://www.fite.tv/watch/top-rank-ramirez-vs-taylor/2p9bp/. (While FITE is also available in the United States, this event will only be available through FITE internationally.) Check your local listings for start times internationally.

 

The Boxing Truth®️ is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.

 

Follow Beau Denison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison

 

UPDATE 5/18/2021

 

We would like to let our readers know that we are between rounds and new material discussing the upcoming Jr. Welterweight unification bout between Jose Ramirez and Josh Taylor will be released here on the website on Friday, May 21^st. In the interim, any additional content that has been sent in for release will be made available for readers as normal. Stay tuned.

“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”

 

The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.

 

Follow Beau Denison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison