Via Sam Volz: Former WBC/WBO lightweight champion Jose Ramirez will have another confidence-building match against Richard Commey (30-4-1, 27 KOs) on March 25 in the main event on ESPN, ESPN Deportes & ESPN+ from Save Mart Arena in Fresno, California. The event begins at 10:00 p.m. ET.
Ramirez (27-1, 17 KOs) has received a lot of criticism from the boxing world over the past two weeks after declining a belt shot against 140-lb WBC champion Regis Prograis.
Boxing fans won’t be too keen on seeing Ramirez take on the lackluster Commey, who entered the bout having been easily beaten by Vasyl Lomachenko in 2021 and knocked out by Teofimo Lopez in 2019.
Commey is not the ideal opponent for Ramirez to fight, with him having turned down a title against Prograis. To assuage criticism from fans, Ramirez should at least pick Arnold Barboza, Gary Antuanne Russell or Sandor Martin.
Although Ramirez says he’s not happy with the 65-35 split, what looks bad in the eyes of fans is that he’s up against 35-year-old Commey and will likely make less money. Ramirez says he wants to split 50-50 with champion Prograis as his challenger for the WBC belt.
There won’t be a world title for the Ramirez-Commey match, and it won’t be a knockout, which is understandable, given Commey’s recent ring record of 1-2-1 in his last four matches.
Top-ranked did not reveal the direction they are moving 30-year-old Ramirez in terms of world titles. His decision to refuse to compete with WBC champion Prograis affected his ranking, leading to the World Boxing Council moving him from #1 to #6.
The top ranking seems to be taking Ramirez towards a title against WBO champion Josh Taylor. Ramirez is ranked 3rd with the WBO, so it won’t be too long for him to take out Taylor.
In May 2021, Ramirez lost to Taylor in the decisive 12th round in an undisputed lightweight title match. Taylor knocked out Ramirez twice in that match.
It was a close fight and conceivably, Ramirez could have beaten Taylor had he not made the same mistakes as last time. However, it will be a challenge since the Scots are smarter than him, which could happen again.
With that said, there is no guarantee that the war will happen. If Ramirez values himself by desiring parity, he will be stuck as a candidate and will have to continue to battle the likes of Commey and Jose Pedraza.
Ramirez said: “Richard Commey is a champion boxer with everything to achieve. “I look forward to the best version of Commey on March 25th. My goal is to be a champion again and I am more motivated than ever to prove that I am an outstanding young weightlifter. the best in the world.”
In the main support match, WBA minimums champion Seniesa Estrada played against WBC champion Tina Rupprecht.
