With junior welterweight titleholder Jose Ramirez set for an undisputed title unification with Josh Taylor on May 22, Ramirez takes some time to chat with Fight Hype about the upcoming clash and his expectations for the bout.
Ramirez on being the underdog against Taylor and what he makes of it
“I think it’s based more on the promotion behind the [WBSS]…some people probably felt that was better competition in the [WBSS] than it was outside of the tournament so you can’t really blame the fighter, you know?
“My job is just to keep on fighting and I’ve never been a fan of how people rank certain fighters or people’s opinions on fighters because I am a fighter myself and I can tell you that at this level there is no easy fights. Fights like this anything can happen and I’m very confident with myself. I feel great, I feel strong, I’m very inspired by this fight.
“I think a fight like this is great because it allows me to show people who Jose Ramirez is, you know, and I think the promotion behind a fight like this, I think the publicity that I’ll get from not just America but also Mexico knowing that they have a full-blooded Mexican fighter who holds all four belts. So I have two demographics that I know will get behind me in a very big way.”
On the perception that Taylor might be a more skilled fighter than him
“I think we both have different abilities in boxing. I think some people sometimes misunderstand that concept that fighters are different. Some are better at one thing and some are better at doing something else and people get the assumption that a style like Mayweather, a style like shoulder roll, that style that has the rhythm to jump in and out, that those fighters are more skillful than say a fighter like Mike Tyson with the bending at the waist and closing the distance — like Chavez, like Marquez — those are all different styles, you know?
“I think this fight people are gonna be able to see who was more skillful and who used what they’re good at much better…Mentally and physically you gotta dig deep in fights like this. You gotta be ready and prepared to bring the best out of you and I’ll be ready for the fight to go all 12 rounds.”