FIGHT WEEK
20-YEAR-OLD WELTERWEIGHT CONTENDER JESUS RAMOS JR. RETURNS AGAINST BRIAN MENDOZA. AND MAURICIO LARA AND JOSH WARRINGTON DO IT AGAIN.
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MAURICIO LARA (23-2, 16 KOs)
VS. JOSH WARRINGTON (30-1, 7 KOs)
- When: Saturday, Sept. 4
- Where: Headingley Rugby Stadium, Leeds, England
- TV/Stream: DAZN
- Division: Featherweight
- At stake: No titles
- Pound-for-pound ranking: None
- Odds: Warrington 1½-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
- Also on the card: Katie Taylor vs. Jennifer Han, lightweights (for Taylor’s IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO titles); Conor Benn vs. Adrian Granados, welterweights; Jovanni Straffon vs. Maxi Hughes, lightweights
- Prediction: Warrington UD
- Background: The last time Warrington fought Lara things didn’t go well. The then-undefeated Leeds fighter took a terrible beating from then-unknown Mauricio Lara in February, leaving the SSE Arena ring with a ninth-round knockout loss, a fractured jaw, a shoulder injury and a perforated eardrum. Less than seven months later, Warrington is stepping right back into the cauldron. The former featherweight titleholder said afterward that he underestimated the hard-punching Mexican and he believes he’s the more-skillful fighter, which he plans to demonstrate on Saturday. “I’ve watched the first fight a dozen times,” he said. “I’m mentally and physically prepared for Mauricio. It won’t be the same result. I want revenge.” His career appears to be on the line. If he wins, he’s more or less back to where he was before the first fight. If he loses, it will be difficult to rebuild. Meanwhile, Lara, who instantaneously became a major player in the division, is out to prove that his victory in the first fight was no fluke. Also on the card, Katie Taylor (18-0, 6 KOs) defends her undisputed lightweight championship against Jennifer Han (18-3-1, 1 KO). The gifted Irishwoman is coming off a close 10-round decision over Natasha Jonas in May. Han, from El Paso, Texas, has won eight consecutive fights – all in her hometown – but is taking a significant step up in opposition.
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JESUS RAMOS JR. (16-0, 14 KOs)
VS. BRIAN MENDOZA (191, 13 KOs)
- When: Sunday, Sept. 5
- Where: The Armory, Minneapolis
- TV/Stream: Fox
- Division: Welterweights or junior middleweights
- At stake: No titles
- Pound-for-pound ranking: None
- Odds: NA
- Also on the card: Starling Castillo vs. Juan Carlos Burgos, lightweights; Armando Resendiz vs. Marcos Hernandez, middleweights
- Prediction: Ramos KO 6
- Background: Ramos, a 20-year-old welterweight contender, is one of the brightest young stars in the sport. The Arizonan’s power is obvious but he reminded everyone in his last outing that he can also box well and go the distance, as he kept the pressure on veteran Javier Molina and won a wide unanimous decision on the Andy Ruiz Jr.-Chris Arreola card in May. Ramos had never gone past the sixth round in any fight. He has said he hopes to win a world title before his 22nd birthday. Mendoza is coming off his biggest victory, a unanimous decision over Thomas Lamanna at 154 pounds in his first 10-rounder almost exactly a year ago. That followed his only loss, a split decision against Larry Gomez in an eight-round fight the previous November. Mendoza has demonstrated that he can punch but he hasn’t faced anyone near the level of Ramos.
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Also fighting this weekend: Kazuto Ioka (26-2, 15 KOs) defends his WBO 115-pound title against Francisco Rodriguez Jr. (34-4-1, 24 KOs) on Wednesday in Tokyo (no TV in U.S.). And Cletus Seldin (25-1, 21 KOs) faces Fernando David Saucedo (63-9-3, 10 KOs) in a scheduled 10-round 140-pound fight Saturday in Huntington, N.Y. (FITE).