Jose Ramirez – Page 13 – Syndication Server

Jose Ramirez: First Viktor Postol, then the real prize – Josh Taylor

Jose Ramirez said that he wants a title-unification showdown with Josh Taylor to be his last fight at 140 pounds.

There’s no doubt about what awaits Jose Ramírez. First, however, he has to travel to China and measure where he is. How prepared he is. It’s long way to go to get what everybody around him thinks is so close.

A Ramírez bout with Josh Taylor was the story when Taylor signed with Top Rank on Jan 9. It was never a question. Just when.

But a date was already on the Ramírez itinerary. There’s a bout with Viktor Postol on ESPN for an opening bell that will sound at about the time alarm clocks go off on the resort island of Haikou in the early morning hours of Feb. 2. For an American audience, it’ll be prime time Feb. 1.

On Ramírez’s career clock, it’s serious business in any time zone.

It will put him within a fight or two of who — what — he has always wanted.

“Taylor is the fight I want, hopefully next,’’ Ramírez said Wednesday on a conference call.

Ramírez, who was scheduled to leave for China on Thursday, foresees the Taylor bout as his last fight at 140 pounds. Then, he says he plans to move up the scale to 147 against Terence Crawford, a welterweight champion and leading pound-for-pound contender.

Exactly when the Ramírez-Taylor fight might happen, however, hinges on some mandatory defenses attached to the belts held by both. Each hold two. Taylor is expected to make a mandatory defense against Apinun Khongsong of Thailand before he moves on to Ramírez. The timing of that one is still unclear.

Top Rank’s Bob Arum said there’s a chance Ramírez could also fight a mandatory. Arum also said an exception from further mandatory defenses could be granted, which would immediately set up Ramírez-Taylor for all of the meaningful belts

“We’ll see,’’ Arum said.

Meanwhile, Ramírez (25-0, 17 KOs) has a chance to test himself against Postol (31-2, 12 KOs), a former champion whose 33 fights include losses to Crawford and then Taylor, both by unanimous decision.

“This will give people an idea of where I am as a fighter,’’ said Ramirez, who added that he won’t use the Postol fight as a way to measure his chances against Taylor and/or Crawford. “I won’t focus on how I would do against Crawford or Taylor. I’ll focus on what I do.’’

Josh Taylor’s likely next opponent: Apinun Khongsong

Josh Taylor says that he has to take care of a mandatory challenger before he can pursue Jose Ramirez.

It’s a new deal and an ambitious agenda. But there’s some mandatory business on Josh Taylor’s schedule before he can move on to pursue the larger opportunities that were created by his new deal with Top Rank.

Before Jose Ramirez, there is Apinun Khongsong.

“I’ve got a mandatory I have to do,’’ Taylor told iFL TV. “I believe it’s the guy from Thailand. I can’t pronounce his name. I need to get that out of the way.’’

The Ramirez bout can’t happen until later in the year anyway. Ramirez defends his two junior welterweight belts against Viktor Postol on Feb. 2 in China (Feb. 1 in the United States on ESPN.)

Taylor (16-0, 12 KOs) has the other two 140-pound belts. Khongsong, 23, is unbeaten (16-0, 13 KOs). All of his bouts have been in Asia. He signed a co-promotional deal with Sampson Lewkowicz on Thursday — the same day that Taylor’s multi-year deal with Top Rank was announced.

“I’m hoping it’ll be in Scotland,’’ Taylor said of the mandatory. “I’m hoping I’ll have a defense in Scotland before then going State-side to chase the Ramirez fight.”

Josh Taylor, thinking big, sets his sights on Terence Crawford

Josh Taylor wants to unify the 140-pound titles against Jose Ramirez and then move up to 147 and face Terence Crawford.

First, Jose Ramirez. Then, Terence Crawford.

That’s a bold plan, but Josh Taylor’s move to Top Rank has emboldened the Scottish fighter.

Taylor, who announced a multi-year deal with Top Rank on Thursday, told his hometown newspaper that Crawford has always been somebody he has wanted to fight.

“It’s been an ambition of mine to fight him for a long time,” Taylor told the Evening Edinburgh News

Taylor might be getting a little bit ahead of himself. Crawford, ranked first or second in the various pound-for-pound ratings, is a welterweight. Taylor is at junior welter and is expected to face Ramirez later in the year for all of the significant belts at 140 pounds. First, Ramirez has to beat Viktor Postol Feb. 2 in China on ESPN.

If, as expected, Ramirez beats Postol, then Taylor faces a challenge as daunting as the one he wants against Crawford. Taylor-Ramirez looks to be a pick-em fight. But Taylor is nothing if not confident. His fearlessness is a reason Top Rank signed him. His long-term ambitions also might be welcome news to Crawford, who is looking for a well-known name with proven talent who can silence the critics who dismiss the quality of his opposition

That name might be Taylor. Might be Ramirez.

“We both now operate under the same banner so there’s no reason for boxing politics to get involved,” said Taylor, referring to Crawford. “If I move up to 147 pounds, then that fight with Crawford should be easily made. The only negotiating that would need to happen would be if it is going to be here or in America.‘’

A more immediate task for Taylor is to find a new trainer. In leaving Barry McGuigan’s Cyclone Promotions, it’s expected that Taylor will also leave trainer Shane McGuigan, Barry’s son.

Josh Taylor’s new promoter, Bob Arum, wants to make him ‘international star’

Titleholder Josh Taylor of Scotland has signed with Top Rank, but Cyclone Promotions says he’s already under contract.

A 140-pound title-unification fight just became more likely.

Junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor of Scotland has signed a contract with Top Rank, Bob Arum and Taylor said Thursday in a joint announcement.

The multi-year deal is expected to lead to a 140-pound unification fight with Jose Ramirez, also a Top Rank fighter.

“A new year, a new decade with lots of new beginnings, and I’m starting this new decade with a big bang,” said Taylor, who beat Regis Prograis for two of the junior welterweight titles in a Fight of the Year contender Oct. 26 in the U.K. “2019 was a huge year for me, but 2020 looks set to be even bigger and I’m delighted to have signed a deal with Top Rank and ESPN and an advisory contract with MTK Global.’’

Controversy with Taylor’s Top Rank deal looms, however. Promoter Barry McGuigan immediately responded to the announcement, saying in a statement that Taylor is already under contract.

“We are very disappointed to read the news today that Josh Taylor has signed a promotional agreement with another promotional company,” McGuigan said in statement released to the U.K.’s The Mirror. “Josh Taylor is under an exclusive worldwide promotional contract with Cyclone Promotions.

“We have successfully brought Josh to the pinnacle of the sport from the day that he turned professional, including working alongside other stakeholders in boxing to deliver him the biggest fights.’’

Meanwhile, Arum called Taylor (16-0, 12 KOs) a fight fan’s fighter, fearless and willing to take on anybody.

“Whether it’s Jose Ramirez in a fight for the undisputed junior welterweight title or any of the welterweights out there, he’s ready for the biggest challenges,’’ Arum said. “I want to thank Josh’s advisors at MTK Global, who have the same goal as us, which is to make him an international star.”

Caleb Plant latest example of exploiting hometown fan base

Caleb Plant will defend his super middleweight title against Vincent Feigenbutz on Feb. 15 in Nashville, Plant’s hometown.

Caleb Plant’s next title defense certainly doesn’t whet the appetite. The super middleweight titleholder is set to take on unheralded German Vincent Feigenbutz on Feb. 15, it was announced last week.

Feigenbutz? Rumor is that he and Tom Schwartz have the same Bavarian agent.

To compound matters, Plant is coming off what was already an underwhelming matchup in his last bout, on July 20, a breezy win over “Subway” Mike Lee that ended swiftly in the third round. A talented southpaw in his prime who otherwise had a breakout year by wresting a piece of the super middleweight crown from Jose Uzcategui in January, Plant, it seems, has been put on the slow track for his title reign.

Yet by deciding to stage Plant’s next fight at the Bridgestone Arena in his hometown of Nashville, it’s clear what strategy his handlers have in mind for their top fighters.

“I’m very excited to bring my world title home to Nashville in my second title defense,” Plant said in a release by Premier Boxing Champions. “It’ll be in front of all of my family and friends, and I plan to put on a spectacular performance. Vincent Feigenbutz is a very tough, rugged European fighter. He’s got a big knockout ratio, but this is my backyard, and I will not let any man come in here and rain on my parade.

“On February 15, I’m representing my hometown and my home city with pride. I believe this will be the first of many fights that we hold at The Bridgestone in Nashville. This fight isn’t going 12 rounds. Nashville, stand up!”

When was the last time a title fight took place in Nashville? Exactly.

Plant may not get the hearts of fight aficionados racing by facing an unknown German, but that likely won’t matter to his hometown supporters. Indeed, the fight is the latest example of a new box office market in boxing, the local market. In recent years, fighters like Jose Ramirez and Terence Crawford have drawn upwards of 12,000 fans in their hometowns of Fresno, California and Omaha, Nebraska, respectively. The PBC showcased Jermall Charlo in his native Houston and gave rising lightweight Gervonta “Davis a considerable homecoming in Baltimore. Indeed, this past Saturday, more than 14,000 spectators showed up in Atlanta to see Davis score a 12th-round stoppage against Yuriorkis Gamboa. In the spring, Dallas native Errol Spence drew 47,000 people to see him fight Mikey Garcia in a pay-per-view show in nearby Arlington.

Plant-Feigenbutz could have taken place at one of the totemic casinos in Las Vegas, where Plant lives and trains, and no one would have batted an eye. If boxing wants to grows, it needs to move away from money streams that have both sustained and marginalized it over the past few decades.

Plant-Feigenbutz could be another step in something special. Let’s just hope next time Plant goes to Nashville, it’s against a live body.

Jose Ramirez’s manager explains why next defense is in China

Jose Ramirez will be fighting in Hainan, China for his next junior welterweight title defense against Viktor Postol. The question is why?

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.”

No money? No problem: Bob Arum’s plan to get media to his cards

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum wants his fights covered by the media, even if it means having to help pay for their hotel and travel fees.

Bob Arum has a remedy of sorts for boxing’s ailing, cash-strapped media: help chip in for their hotel and travel costs.

The founder of Top Rank proposed the idea during a recent episode of the Everlast TalkBox podcast. Case in point is the junior welterweight title fight that Arum is staging in Haikou, China in February between titleholder Jose Ramirez and Viktor Postol.

“What I’m going to say is this is a long way away and the average cost of one of the reporters going to a fight if the fight was in the United Sates, you say, is (about) $200,” Arum said. “So we would charge them $200, pay for the air far, pay for the hotels. I think you gotta charge something. It’s not a good image if you charge them nothing. But if you charge a reasonable small amount, a token amount – like $200, or $250 – I think you’re going to accomplish what you do.”

He went on: “There is not one daily paper in the whole country that has a full time boxing writer. None. So how are we getting the news out on boxing? We’re getting it out basically from websites that can’t afford anything. They don’t have any money. They’re operating on views. So when a writer for one of those writers says I wanna go across country or to China to cover a big fight, the guy who owns the website says, ‘are you crazy, we don’t have any money to send you.’ And that’s bad.”

In other words, Arum would rather help subsidize reporters rather than risk having no coverage at all. Conflicts of interest be damned.

“We have to now realize that accommodations have to be made so that we can get the coverage for the sport that it deserves and the rules on propriety that existed in the ’70s and ’80s until now be no longer relevant,” he said. “Again, if this was 20 years ago, I would have said that’s outrageous, but it’s not 20 years ago, it’s today, it has to be done.”

There’s another world title fight taking place on the other side of the world and for which, Arum expects, there will be limited U.S. coverage.

“Look at this fight in Saudi Arabia (on December 7), (Anthony) Joshua-(Andy) Ruiz. Long way away. Cost a fortune to fly and so forth. Now these guys working for the website, obviously, the website isn’t going to send them … it’s too expensive. So the result is that no one is going to cover the fight in the United States.”

Note: Boxing Junkie does not accept travel subsidies from any outside sources.

Jose Ramirez vs. Viktor Postol set for Feb. 1 in China

Junior welterweight titleholder Jose Ramirez will take on Viktor Postol in the main event of a boxing card to take place in Hainan, China.

The pride of California’s Central Valley is taking his high-octane act to China.

Junior welterweight titleholder Jose Ramirez will defend his belts against mandatory challenger Viktor Postol on Feb. 1 at the Mission Hills Haikou in the port city of Haikou, Hainan, Top Rank announced earlier this week. The fight will be broadcast live on ESPN.

Ramirez (25-0, 17 knockouts) is coming off a career-best win over Maurice Hooker to unify two of the four major belts in the division. He had surgery on his left hand following the fight. Ramirez, of Avenal, won his first title against Amir Imam at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in 2018.

“I am excited to defend my belts against Viktor Postol to kick off my 2020 schedule,” Ramirez said. “I am a world champion, so it is my honor to defend my titles in front of the great fans in China. It is going to be a great experience, and I am glad that my fans back home will be able to watch me live on ESPN. As a unified champion, I am hungrier than ever.”

A former titleholder, Postol (31-2, 12 KOs) emerged on the world scene in 2015 when he knocked out Lucas Matthysse in the 10th round to win a vacant title. He lost it to Terence Crawford the following year and later came up short against Josh Taylor, the division’s other partially unified champion, in the World Boxing Super Series. Postol became the mandatory challenger for Ramirez’s WBC belt after his points win over Mohamed Mimoune in April.

“It’s a big opportunity for me and a big honor to share the ring with one of the best fighters in my division,” Postol said. “I know Ramirez, as we sparred together in the past. I’m looking forward to a great fight in China.”

Top Rank has staged fights in China in the past, most notably with Zou Shiming and Manny Pacquiao in the Chinese outpost of Macau.