The momentum of many fighters was stopped cold by the coronavirus pandemic. That includes Jose Ramirez.
The junior welterweight titleholder is coming off arguably the most-impressive victory of his career, a sixth-round knockout of previously unbeaten Maurice Hooker in July of last year. Ramirez had taken the next step toward pound-for-pound status and an inevitable showdown with Josh Taylor, the second of two 140-pound titleholders.
Enter COVID-19.
Ramirez was originally scheduled to defend his titles against Vikto Postol on Feb. 1 in China but the fight was postponed as the coronavirus pandemic began to take hold. It was then targeted for May 9 but ultimately scrapped for the same reason.
Finally, Ramirez will defend against Postol on Saturday in the MGM Grand “bubble” in Las Vegas, his fourth title defense and a solid step toward the meeting with Taylor, assuming the Scot wins his next defense.
Taylor is scheduled to meet Apinun Khongsong on Sept. 26.
“I’m excited to finally be back,” said Ramirez, who will be fighting on ESPN+. “It’s always an honor stepping into the ring, fighting a guy like Postol and defending my belts. God knows that my goal is to become the undisputed champion, and this gets me one step closer to my goal.”
Ramirez is confident that he will have Robert Garcia in his corner on Saturday. The veteran trainer has been out of action since testing positive for COVID-19 recently but, after negative tests, has been cleared to return to work.
The champion seems to be less certain that the fight will actually come off given the previous postponements.
“We just want to get there Wednesday night, Thursday morning for everyone to get tested,” Ramirez told BoxingScene.com. “We want to make sure we get the results that both teams are good to go, and that we can finally say the fight is here.
“I just want to be able to breathe that sigh of relief now that the fight is so close.”
Ramirez (25-0, 17 KOs) will be heavily favored to beat Postol (31-2, 12 KOs) when they step into the ring, but the Ukrainian is no pushover.
Postol, 36, is best known for stopping Lucas Matthysse to win a vacant junior welterweight title in October 2015 only to lose it the following July in his first defense against Terence Crawford, who won by a wide decision.
He has fought only four times since, including a unanimous-decision loss to a fast-rising Taylor in June 2018. He won his two fights after that.
Postol might no longer be the fighter who upset Matthysse five years ago but he remains a solid, experienced veteran who has never been stopped. Plus, he knows he won’t get many more opportunities like this one.
That will serve as added motivation.
“I’m just looking forward to fighting,” Postol said. “I’m coming to win those world titles. I have been training since this fight was first announced, so I’m focused and ready to go.”
[lawrence-related id=12619,12312,8381,8210]