FRESNO, Calif. -- Already a massive draw in his native Southern California, Jose Ramirez (22-0, 16 KOs) will make the first defense of his WBC junior welterweight title against Antonio Orozco (27-0, 17 KOs). That fight will take place on Sept. 14, just a day before the highly anticipated rematch between Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin, and will be televised on ESPN.
The 26-year-old Ramirez fights out of the orthodox stance and has gained popularity due to his outspokenness on social and political issues, most notably water rights. Ramirez likes to come forward behind a jab that helps set up the rest of his offense. Behind the jab he will throw a hard straight right hand which usually lands upstairs. His best punch is probably his left hook which he really commits to the body and can do serious damage with. Defensively, Ramirez is certainly there to be hit but he has shown himself to be a durable fighter who will eat a few punches as long as it means he can do damage on his own.
Despite already being a champion, Ramirez doesn't have many notable opponents on his resume. That is in part because the junior welterweight division, while having a few very good fighters, isn't as deep as other division. The biggest name on his resume is Amir Imam who he beat in his most recent fight, earlier this year. He also handed Mike Reed his first career loss in 2017 and perhaps most impressively, all of Ramirez's wins have come by the way of unanimous decision or knockout. Fans would love to see a unification fight between Ramirez and Regis Prograis, the two best junior welterweights in the sport, but that fight will have to wait since Prograis is currently taking part in the World Boxing Super Series.
Orozco is also an orthodox fighter who likes to come forward. Much like Ramirez, Orozco loves to attack the body with his left hook. He doesn't use his jab as much as Ramirez does which could hurt him in this fight. Orozco also has a strong right hand and he will throw that punch upstairs but he is at his best when he's on the inside attacking the body with his hard left hook. He and Ramirez are actually very similar and Orozco, like Ramirez, has only been dropped once in his career and outside of that has shown himself to be a very durable fighter.
This will be the first time Orozco has fought for a world title. He doesn't have many notable wins on his resume but he did hand Keandre Gibson his first career loss in 2017. He's also beaten veteran fighters in Humberto Soto and Steve Forbes and beat the usually tough Emmanuel Taylor. Orozco already has one win in 2018 but he only fought once in 2017 and twice in 2016 and he is certainly taking a step up against Ramirez.
This should be an excellent action fight between two pugilists who rarely take a backwards step. Ramirez and Orozco's styles are very similar with the most notable difference being the fact that Ramirez uses his jab much more often. This fight should take place in a phone booth with both fighters doling out a tremendous amount of punishment to the body of their opponent. Ramirez should be helped by the fact that he's slightly larger than Orozco and is the more powerful puncher, although not by much. Expect toe-to-toe action for however long this fight lasts with both Ramirez and Orozco giving and taking plenty of heavy leather.
PREDICTION: This should be a very close fight and it should go the full 12 rounds. Both Jose Ramirez and Antonio Orozco will put in plenty of good work and have to absorb plenty of punishment. However, when the final bell rings it will be Ramirez who will have done the better work and he will come away with the close unanimous decision victory.
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| Ramirez catching Amir Imam with a right hand |
Despite already being a champion, Ramirez doesn't have many notable opponents on his resume. That is in part because the junior welterweight division, while having a few very good fighters, isn't as deep as other division. The biggest name on his resume is Amir Imam who he beat in his most recent fight, earlier this year. He also handed Mike Reed his first career loss in 2017 and perhaps most impressively, all of Ramirez's wins have come by the way of unanimous decision or knockout. Fans would love to see a unification fight between Ramirez and Regis Prograis, the two best junior welterweights in the sport, but that fight will have to wait since Prograis is currently taking part in the World Boxing Super Series.
Orozco is also an orthodox fighter who likes to come forward. Much like Ramirez, Orozco loves to attack the body with his left hook. He doesn't use his jab as much as Ramirez does which could hurt him in this fight. Orozco also has a strong right hand and he will throw that punch upstairs but he is at his best when he's on the inside attacking the body with his hard left hook. He and Ramirez are actually very similar and Orozco, like Ramirez, has only been dropped once in his career and outside of that has shown himself to be a very durable fighter.
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| Orozco landing a clean body shot against Keandre Gibson |
This should be an excellent action fight between two pugilists who rarely take a backwards step. Ramirez and Orozco's styles are very similar with the most notable difference being the fact that Ramirez uses his jab much more often. This fight should take place in a phone booth with both fighters doling out a tremendous amount of punishment to the body of their opponent. Ramirez should be helped by the fact that he's slightly larger than Orozco and is the more powerful puncher, although not by much. Expect toe-to-toe action for however long this fight lasts with both Ramirez and Orozco giving and taking plenty of heavy leather.
PREDICTION: This should be a very close fight and it should go the full 12 rounds. Both Jose Ramirez and Antonio Orozco will put in plenty of good work and have to absorb plenty of punishment. However, when the final bell rings it will be Ramirez who will have done the better work and he will come away with the close unanimous decision victory.
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