By Ian S Palmer
Former WBO/WBC Super Lightweight Champion Jose Ramirez of Avenal, California will be back in the ring this Friday, March 4th when he takes on former world champ Jose Pedraza of Puerto Rico. The 12-round fight from Fresno, California can be seen live in America on ESPN+ while fans in the UK can catch it on Sky Sports Action. Ramirez lost his belts and the first fight of his pro career last May when he dropped a close unanimous decision to Josh Taylor after being dropped in rounds six and seven. Pedraza last fought in June when he stopped Julian Rodriguez after eight rounds.
The 29-year-old Ramirez won the vacant WBC Super Lightweight Crown with a unanimous decision over Amir Imam in March, 2018 and defended it for the first time with a unanimous decision over Antonio Orozco before beating Jose Zepeda by majority decision and taking down Maurice Hooker in six to add the WBO title. He then met Viktor Postol in 2020 and took a majority decision. Ramirez attempted to unify the belts against Josh Taylor who held the WBA and IBF versions and lost 114-112 on all three scorecards despite being dropped twice.
Ramirez enters the contest with an impressive mark of 26-1 with 17 Kos and has boxed 139 rounds since turning pro back in 2012. He stands 5-feet-10-inches tall with a 72-inch reach and has quite a bit of pop in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 63 per cent. Ramirez enjoyed a fine amateur career and represented the USA at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England where he went 1-1.
He also faced Vasyl Lomachenko at the 2011 World Championships in Azerbaijan and was beaten 16-9 on points. Since turning pro Ramirez has also won the NABF Junior Welterweight Title as well as a couple of other regional belts as well as his world championship. As well as beating Postol, Hooker and Zepeda, Ramirez has also defeated Antonio Orozco, Amir Imam, Mike Reed, Issouf Kinda, Johnny Garcia, Jake Giuriceo, Robert Frankel, Ryusei Yoshida and Tomas Mendez.
Jose Pedraza’s June win over Julian Rodriguez was his third straight after being beaten by Jose Zepeda via a 10-round unanimous decision in September, 2019 for the vacant WBC USNBC Junior Welterweight Title. He bounced back from that loss first by beating Mikel LesPierre by 10-round unanimous decision and then downing Javier Molina by 10-round unanimous decision.
The 32-year-old Pedraza is a former IBF Super Featherweight Champion who won the vacant belt in June, 2015 when he beat Andrey Klimov by unanimous decision. He defended the crown twice by beating Edner Cherry and Stephen Smith by split and unanimous decisions respectively. Pedraza then lost his belt in his third defence when Gervonta Davis stopped him in the seventh round in January, 2017.
After that he managed to beat Jose Luis Rodriguez, Antonio Moran and Raymundo Beltran by unanimous decisions. Pedraza then ran into Vasyl Lomachenko in December, 2018, was dropped twice in the 11th round and lost a unanimous decision in a shot at the WBO and WBA World Lightweight Belts. After that he stopped Antonio Lozada Torres in the ninth round and lost to Zepeda.
Pedraza climbs through the ropes with a record of 29-3 with 14 Kos. He’s 5-feet-8-inches tall with a reach of 70.5 so gives up two inches in height and 1.5-inches in reach to Ramirez. He prefers to fight from the outside if possible and isn’t much of a banger as his current knockout ratio is 43.4 per cent, but his power shouldn’t be underestimated.
He’s boxed 238 since his pro debut in 2011 and also owns a unanimous decision over Alberto Garza and a seventh-round TKO over Sergio Reyes. Pedraza had a fine, extensive amateur career and represented Puerto Rico at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing where he lost in the second round of competition. Since turning pro he’s also won the WBC Youth World, USBA, and IBO World Super Featherweight Titles to go along with his WBO Latino Lightweight Crown.
Prediction…
Ramirez usually finds a way to win and it sometimes appears he fights to the level of his opposition. He struggled somewhat against Taylor, Zepeda and Postol but looked sensational against Hooker. Pedraza ha proven he can be a handful for anybody due to his slick skills and underrated power. I’m expecting Ramirez to be quite motivated after losing a close decision to Taylor and I think he’ll do just enough to beat Pedraza on Friday night.
