Tag: Ramirez vs Pedraza

Jose Ramirez’s gamble paid off Friday.

Ramirez chose to face slick, experienced technician Jose Pedraza instead of a transition opponent in his first fight since he lost his 140-pound titles to Josh Taylor last May.

There were moments when it appeared Ramirez might’ve made a poor decision but he finished strong down the stretch to win a clear, unanimous decision in Fresno, California, not far from his hometown of Avenal.

In the process, Ramirez put himself in a strong position to challenge for a vacant title assuming Taylor gives up his titles and moves up in weight.

Ramirez (27-1, 17 KOs) stalked Pedraza (29-4, 14 KOs) from the opening bell and had success, landing jabs and power shots to the head and body with some consistency.

However, he couldn’t take full control of the fight because of Pedraza’s formidable boxing ability and athleticism. The Puerto Rican countered effectively at times and stayed on his toes, which made it difficult for Ramirez to cut off the ring.

Pedraza looked particularly strong in the middle rounds, when he found a groove. He landed precise, well-timed punches that seemed to turn the tide in the fight.

Then, beginning in Round 9, Ramirez picked up his pace and imposed his will on Pedraza, who danced more than he fought in the final few rounds.

Thus, the official scores – 116-112 on all three cards – made sense. Boxing Junkie scored it 115-113 for Ramirez, seven rounds to five.

Ramirez was asked what changed down the stretch.

“I just had to push a little bit more,” he said. “I let him know I had an extra gear. Once he saw I had an extra gear, he went back to respecting me and I went back to controlling the fight again.”

Ramirez could get a shot at one of the four major titles soon.

Taylor, coming off a split-decision victory over surprisingly tough Jack Catterall on Feb. 26,, has said he intends to move up to welterweight. That would open up all four major 140-pound titles.

And Ramirez certainly is a prime candidate to land in one of the championship fights, particularly after his performance on Friday.

“I’ll go against anybody at 140,” he said. “… There are a lot of great fighters coming up to 140. There’s a lot of great fighters at 140 right now. So I’d like to face all of them.”

He was pressed to name names but he wouldn’t bite, saying only, “It doesn’t matter who it is.”

Yes, Ramirez seems to have regained any confidence he might’ve lost when he fell to Taylor.

[lawrence-related id=28586]

Jose Ramirez’s gamble paid off Friday.

Ramirez chose to face slick, experienced technician Jose Pedraza instead of a transition opponent in his first fight since he lost his 140-pound titles to Josh Taylor last May.

There were moments when it appeared Ramirez might’ve made a poor decision but he finished strong down the stretch to win a clear, unanimous decision in Fresno, California, not far from his hometown of Avenal.

In the process, Ramirez put himself in a strong position to challenge for a vacant title assuming Taylor gives up his titles and moves up in weight.

Ramirez (27-1, 17 KOs) stalked Pedraza (29-4, 14 KOs) from the opening bell and had success, landing jabs and power shots to the head and body with some consistency.

However, he couldn’t take full control of the fight because of Pedraza’s formidable boxing ability and athleticism. The Puerto Rican countered effectively at times and stayed on his toes, which made it difficult for Ramirez to cut off the ring.

Pedraza looked particularly strong in the middle rounds, when he found a groove. He landed precise, well-timed punches that seemed to turn the tide in the fight.

Then, beginning in Round 9, Ramirez picked up his pace and imposed his will on Pedraza, who danced more than he fought in the final few rounds.

Thus, the official scores – 116-112 on all three cards – made sense. Boxing Junkie scored it 115-113 for Ramirez, seven rounds to five.

Ramirez was asked what changed down the stretch.

“I just had to push a little bit more,” he said. “I let him know I had an extra gear. Once he saw I had an extra gear, he went back to respecting me and I went back to controlling the fight again.”

Ramirez could get a shot at one of the four major titles soon.

Taylor, coming off a split-decision victory over surprisingly tough Jack Catterall on Feb. 26,, has said he intends to move up to welterweight. That would open up all four major 140-pound titles.

And Ramirez certainly is a prime candidate to land in one of the championship fights, particularly after his performance on Friday.

“I’ll go against anybody at 140,” he said. “… There are a lot of great fighters coming up to 140. There’s a lot of great fighters at 140 right now. So I’d like to face all of them.”

He was pressed to name names but he wouldn’t bite, saying only, “It doesn’t matter who it is.”

Yes, Ramirez seems to have regained any confidence he might’ve lost when he fell to Taylor.

[lawrence-related id=28586]

Olympic heavyweight silver medalist Richard Torrez won his pro debut but it wasn’t pretty.

Torrez put Allen Melson down three times and stopped him at 1:23 of Round 2 of a scheduled six-round bout Friday night in Fresno, California, not far from Torrez’s hometown of Tulare.

Torrez put the wild, awkward Melson (6-4, 3 KOs) down with a left hand about two minutes into the fight. Then things got weird.

The Olympian appeared to end the fight with a second knockdown when referee Marcos Rosales waved his arms above the fallen Melson. However, Rosales was indicating that it was a slip, not the end of the fight.

Then, in the final seconds of the opening round, a collision of heads resulted in a deep cut above Torrez’s right eye that bled profusely.

In the end, the cut didn’t matter. Torrez scored two more knockdowns with left hands during moments of wrestling. The last one put Melson on his back, prompting Rosales to end the fight.

The official time was 1:23 of Round 2.

Torrez, who is 6-foot-2, weighed 228.25. The 5-foot-10 Melson came in at only 201.75.

Torrez lost to Bakhodir Jalolov of Uzbekistan 5-0 in the gold-medal match this past August in Tokyo.

In other featured preliminary bouts, two-time former world title challenger Joet Gonzalez (25-2, 14 KOs) stopped Jeo Santisima (21-4, 18 KOs) at 2:05 of Round 9 in a scheduled 10-round bout.

Gabriel Flores Jr. (21-1, 7 KOs) defeated Abraham Montoya (20-3-1, 14 KOs) by a majority decision in a 10-round junior lightweight bout.

And Hector Tanajara (19-1-1, 5 KOs) and Miguel Contreras (11-1-1, 6 KOs) fought to a draw in an eight-round lightweight bout.

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 14^th consecutive fight in the U.S.

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 14^th consecutive fight in the U.S.