Former 140-pound titleholder Jose Ramirez will continue his pursuit of another belt when he faces veteran Richard Commey on Saturday in Fresno, California.
JOSE RAMIREZ (27-1, 17 KOS) VS. RICHARD COMMEY (30-4-1, 27 KOS)
- Date: Saturday, March 25
- Time: 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
- Where: Save Mart Arena, Fresno, California
- TV/Stream: ESPN, ESPN+
- Division: Junior welterweight (140 pounds)
- At stake: No major titles
- Pound-for-pound ranking: None
- Odds: Ramirez 6-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
- Also on the card: Seniesa Estrada vs. Tina Rupprecht, strawweights (for Estrada’s WBA and Rupprecht’s WBC titles); Raymond Muratalla vs. Humberto Galindo, lightweights
- Prediction: Ramirez UD
- Background: The Ramirez-Commey winner will take a significant step toward a shot at a 140-pound title. Ramirez, a former titleholder, lost his two belts to current champ Josh Taylor by a close, but unanimous decision in May 2021. The 2012 U.S. Olympian bounced back by outpointing capable veteran Jose Pedraza the following March, which is the last time he was in the ring. He’s ranked in the Top 7 by all four major sanctioning bodies. The Fresno-area native will be fighting Commey in front of a hometown crowd. Commey, ranked by three organizations, has managed to remain relevant in spite of a poor record the past few years. The hard-punching Ghanaian is 1-2-1 in his last four fights, although the losses have come against elite opponents Teofimo Lopez and Vasiliy Lomachenko. He drew with Pedraza in his most recent fight, last August, which kept his title hopes alive. He hasn’t won a fight since he stopped Jackson Marinez in February 2021, more than two years ago.
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