Jose Ramirez’s gamble paid off Friday.
Ramirez chose to face slick, experienced technician Jose Pedraza instead of a transition opponent in his first fight since he lost his 140-pound titles to Josh Taylor last May.
There were moments when it appeared Ramirez might’ve made a poor decision but he finished strong down the stretch to win a clear, unanimous decision in Fresno, California, not far from his hometown of Avenal.
In the process, Ramirez put himself in a strong position to challenge for a vacant title assuming Taylor gives up his titles and moves up in weight.
Ramirez (27-1, 17 KOs) stalked Pedraza (29-4, 14 KOs) from the opening bell and had success, landing jabs and power shots to the head and body with some consistency.
However, he couldn’t take full control of the fight because of Pedraza’s formidable boxing ability and athleticism. The Puerto Rican countered effectively at times and stayed on his toes, which made it difficult for Ramirez to cut off the ring.
Pedraza looked particularly strong in the middle rounds, when he found a groove. He landed precise, well-timed punches that seemed to turn the tide in the fight.
Then, beginning in Round 9, Ramirez picked up his pace and imposed his will on Pedraza, who danced more than he fought in the final few rounds.
Thus, the official scores – 116-112 on all three cards – made sense. Boxing Junkie scored it 115-113 for Ramirez, seven rounds to five.
Ramirez was asked what changed down the stretch.
“I just had to push a little bit more,” he said. “I let him know I had an extra gear. Once he saw I had an extra gear, he went back to respecting me and I went back to controlling the fight again.”
Ramirez could get a shot at one of the four major titles soon.
Taylor, coming off a split-decision victory over surprisingly tough Jack Catterall on Feb. 26,, has said he intends to move up to welterweight. That would open up all four major 140-pound titles.
And Ramirez certainly is a prime candidate to land in one of the championship fights, particularly after his performance on Friday.
“I’ll go against anybody at 140,” he said. “… There are a lot of great fighters coming up to 140. There’s a lot of great fighters at 140 right now. So I’d like to face all of them.”
He was pressed to name names but he wouldn’t bite, saying only, “It doesn’t matter who it is.”
Yes, Ramirez seems to have regained any confidence he might’ve lost when he fell to Taylor.
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