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Almost 18 months have passed since Viktor Postol lost a 12-round majority decision to Jose Ramirez, then the unbeaten WBC/WBO 140-pound champion.
The official outcome still stings for Postol, who will fight for the first time Saturday night since Ramirez beat him in August 2020 at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.
“In my opinion, it was a draw,” Postol told BoxingScene.com through a translator. “But I understand that I was fighting on his land, in the U.S. If the fight would’ve happened in Ukraine, it would’ve been my win. But fairly, it would be a draw, I think.”
Judge Dave Moretti scored Ramirez-Postol a draw, 114-114. Judges Tim Cheatham (115-113) and Steve Weisfeld (116-112) overruled him by scoring their 12-round fight for Ramirez (26-1, 17 KOs), an Avenal, California, native who lost his WBC and WBO 140-pound crowns in his subsequent bout to Scottish southpaw Josh Taylor (18-0, 13 KOs).
Postol, 38, will end his hiatus against Gary Antuanne Russell (14-0, 14 KOs), a younger brother of former WBC featherweight champ Gary Russell Jr. Showtime will air Postol-Russell – a 10-round, 141-pound bout – as the co-feature of a tripleheader from The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
In Showtime’s main event Saturday night, Brooklyn’s Chris Colbert (16-0, 6 KOs) is set to square off against the Dominican Republic’s Hector Garcia (14-0, 10 KOs, 3 NC) in a 12-round WBA 130-pound elimination match.
Caesars Sportsbook lists Russell, a southpaw from Capitol Heights, Maryland, as a 5-1 favorite to topple Postol. The ex-WBC super lightweight champ represents a much higher level of opposition, though, than Russell’s previous opponents.
Should Postol provide a step up too steep for Russell, he would like a rematch with Ramirez.
“I see that possibly coming,” Postol said, “but first I need to go through Russell.”
Ramirez (26-1, 17 KOs) would also need to get past Puerto Rico’s Jose Pedraza (29-3, 14 KOs) in a 12-round fight ESPN+ will stream Friday night from Fresno State University’s Save Mart Center in Fresno, California.
“I think Ramirez will beat him easy,” Postol said. “Pedraza is not the fighter that can give him a fight.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.