Jose Ramirez, a proven ticket seller in California’s Central Valley, will be defending his two junior welterweight titles against Viktor Postol on a Chinese resort island called Hainan on Feb. 1.
All good. The question is why?
Increased exposure, says Ramirez’s longtime manager Rick Mirigian.
“There was a possibility that the fight did end up in Central Califronia and we made a case for it,” Mirigian told Boxing Junkie. “Looking at the bigger scope of things, we know that if we want to make him a bigger superstar, we have to get him worldwide exposure. We’ve got to get him to places like China. As a team, we talked and it was OK with us.”
It’s not just about introducing the Mexican-American slugger to a country with about 1.4 billion people. In a somewhat roundabout way, it’s also about exposing Ramirez to a greater swath of the American public. The fight is scheduled to air on ESPN the day before the Super Bowl, the most watched sporting event in America, giving it incomparable exposure. The fight could have taken place in Tasmania and it wouldn’t have mattered.
“(The Super Bowl date) was the prime factor for the doing the deal,” Mirigian said. “It was a huge negotiating point. I know how valuable that date is. To me it is more important than any date in the year just because of the eyeballs (in the U.S.). That ESPN channel is on around the spectrum. That’s a heaven-sent date.”
Should Ramirez defeat Postol, Mirigian will work to showcase Ramirez later in the year in front of his hometown fans, hopefully against Scotland’s Josh Taylor for a full unification bout of the junior welterweight titles. Mirigian expects Ramirez to fight twice in 2020.
“I’m looking at a football stadium,” Mirigian said. “Fresno State University holds 40,000 people. The next time he comes back home I’ll probably target that arena. I think a Josh Taylor fight could produce that.”