By Ian S Palmer
WBC Super Lightweight Champion Jose Ramirez of Avenal, California will put his undefeated record and title on the line this Friday, September 14th when he defends the belt for the first time against unbeaten Antonio Orozco of Los Angeles. The 12-round bout will be taking place in Fresno, California and can be seen live in the U.S. on ESPN and ESPN Deportes. Ramirez won the vacant crown with a unanimous decision over Amir Imam in his last bout in March. Orozco’s last outing was an eight-round unanimous decision win over Martin Honorio in March.
The 26-year-old Ramirez enters the contest with a perfect mark of 22-0 along with 16 Kos. He turned pro back in 2012 and has boxed 85 rounds since then. Garcia stands 5-feet-10-inches tall and has a 72.5-inch reach. He’s got quite a bit of pop in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 73 per cent and also possesses a pretty solid chin. Ramirez had a fine amateur career and represented the U.S. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England where he went 1-1.
Ramirez also faced Vasyl Lomachenko at the 2011 World Championships in Azerbaijan and was beaten 16-9 on points. Since turning pro he’s won the NABF Junior Welterweight Title as well as a couple of other regional belts as well as his world championship. Ramirez hasn’t really faced any top contenders as of yet with his biggest wins being over Imam, Mike Reed, Issouf Kinda, Johnny Garcia, Jake Giuriceo, Robert Frankel, Ryusei Yoshida and Tomas Mendez.
As for Orozco, he fights out of San Diego and is also unbeaten with a record of 27-0 with 17 Kos. He turned pro back in 2012 and has boxes 127 rounds since. He stands 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 70-inch reach which means he’s three inches shorter than Ramirez and also gives up 2.5 inches in reach to the champ. Orozco isn’t really known as a knockout artist, but does possess pretty good power with a current KO ratio of 63 per cent and he also owns a solid chin.
Orozco has faced some decent opposition over the years with victories over Honorio, Abner Lopez, Keandre Gibson, Miguel Acosta, Humberto Soto, Emmanuel Taylor, Steve Forbes, Miguel Angel Huerta, Ivan Hernandez and Jose Reynoso. His win over Gibson in April of 2017 was for the vacant NABC Super Lightweight Title and the vacant WBC-USNBC Super Lightweight crown. He’s also won the NABF Jr. Super Lightweight Title in the past.
Prediction…
Orozco has arguably faced better opposition as a pro and he also enjoyed wins over Jessie Vargas and Javier Molina during his fine amateur career. He’ll be a stiff test for Ramirez, but I think Ramirez’s all-action and aggressive busy style will be enough to enable him to retain his title, likely by decision.
