Former 140-pound titleholder Jose Ramirez returns to the ring against veteran Jose Pedraza on Friday in Fresno, California.
Jose Ramirez (KOs) vs. Jose Pedraza (29-3, 14 KOs)
- Date: Friday, March 4
- Time: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
- Where: Save Mart Arena, Fresno, California
- TV/Stream: ESPN+
- Cost: ESPN+ is $6.99 per month or $69.99 annually
- Division: Junior welterweight (140 pounds)
- Rounds: 12
- At stake: No major titles
- Pound-for-pound ranking: None
- Odds: Ramirez 5-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
- Also on the card: Joet Gonzalez vs. Jeo Santisima, featherweights; Gabriel Flores Jr. vs. Abraham Montoya, junior lightweights
- Prediction: Ramirez UD
- Background: Ramirez lost his two 140-pound titles and the considerable momentum he had built when he lost a close, but unanimous decision against Josh Taylor in May of last year, his most-recent fight. All three judges scored it 114-112, meaning the fight would’ve been a draw had Ramirez not gone down twice. Ramirez said afterward that he learned a great deal in the setback and that it revived his hunger to succeed. The resident of California’s agriculture-rich San Joaquin Valley will be fighting in front of his hometown fans. He didn’t select a pushover as his comeback opponent. Pedraza, a slick former two-division titleholder, is going strong at 32. The Puerto Rican has won three consecutive fights since losing two of three (to Vasiliy Lomachenko and Jose Zepeda) in 2018 and 2019. He last fought in June of last year, when he dominated and then stopped previously unbeaten Julian Rodriguez in eight rounds. His only other loss was a seventh-round knockout against Gervonta Davis in 2017. This will be Pedraza’s 14th consecutive fight in the U.S.