Jose Ramirez’s go for broke style almost always produces thrills.
He found out the hard way, though, that it doesn’t always generate wins.
His July 2019 tilt against Maurice Hooker had Ramirez outslugging his rangier opponent until a slicing left hook had the Texas fighter staggered and knocked out on his feet against the ropes. Ramirez then swarmed and unloaded a barrage of punches to clinch the scintillating six-round TKO and become a unified junior welterweight champion.
Against Josh Taylor last May, an exchange of fireworks during the early rounds segued into Ramirez’s reckless abandon getting him outpointed and picked apart. Lunging for a right hook left Ramirez vulnerable for a counter left hook and knockdown in the sixth round. Perhaps shocked by the knockdown, Ramirez made a rookie mistake by dropping his hands expecting the referee to call a break in the clinch during the seventh. The official didn’t call a break and Ramirez was greeted with a blistering uppercut to send him back down to the canvas. Taylor rode the two knockdowns toward a unanimous decision and was crowned undisputed champion at 140 pounds.
“It was a huge opportunity and I feel like I blew it,” Ramirez told ESPN’s Mark Kriegal during a recent sitdown interview, reflecting on his first pro loss.
If Ramirez (26-1, 17 KOs) is going to rebound Friday night at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif. against veteran Jose Pedraza (29-3, 14 KOs), his boxing ability might have to meet his fighting grit halfway. Less risk taking, more calculated punches to fully get over the Taylor loss and perhaps propel him to a rematch with the undisputed king.
“Maybe I needed this loss,” Ramirez said.
“Maybe I needed this to become better and take some of the mistakes that maybe when you win and get so used to winning, you never fix.”
Added trainer Robert Garcia to Kriegal: “When we lose a fight, we want our fighter to think differently mentally because a loss hurts.”
According to Garcia, that shift in mentality means taking Ramirez’s nice guy attitude and turning it into the mindset of a merciless warrior.
To accomplish that, Ramirez must realize that he doesn’t always need a knockout. Breaking down an opponent with controlled power and sweet science constitutes just fine.
In that regard, Pedraza (29-3, 14 KOs) offers a great test. The 32-year-old Puerto Rican fighter is riding a three-bout win streak, having last stopped Julian Rodriguez in June.
What “Sniper” lacks in power, he more than makes up for with precision. Ramirez might have to rely on his ring IQ more than simply his punching power to find a way to get his hand raised against Pedraza.
“I want to earn my position and I want to earn it by facing the best,” Ramirez told Kriegal about why he wanted to clash with Pedraza. “And he’s doing very well.”
A win over Pedraza that allows him to grow and show a more polished fight game could land Ramirez a rematch with Taylor down the line.
And certainly such a scenario would count on Ramirez to balance out his ring strategy that much more.
Why not jumpstart the process Friday night by showing growth against Pedraza first?