‘Rick makes good things happen.’ Meet the man in champion boxer Jose Ramirez’s corner
Rick Mirigian’s life as a brash, hustling, aggressive dealmaker began long before he and super lightweight world champion Jose Ramirez teamed up to form one of boxing’s most successful partnerships.
Those origins trace back to Mirigian’s fourth-grade year at Ericson Elementary in east central Fresno and the time his mother gave him $40 intended for a school field trip to the state Capitol.
The 9-year-old Mirigian had other ideas. During their weekly trip to the Sunnyside Swap Meet, where Rick roamed free while mom bought and sold stuff, he blew all the money on a shoebox filled with old baseball cards.
“When Monday came and it was time for the field trip, I was the only kid that didn’t go,” Mirigian said with a laugh. “I had to go home.”
Although Mirigian recalled getting into “big trouble,” his master plan wasn’t complete. The shoebox contained several cards of 1960s all-stars — names Rick recognized from being around his uncle, a New York Yankees fan. He rode his bike to a nearby collectibles store and sold them for “$400 or $500, a very fair price at the time.”
Listening to Mirigian tell the story, complete with names, locations and details, it’s only natural for some incredulity to slip in. He is a boxing promoter after all, a profession practically synonymous with embellishments and tall tales.
Except when you phone Mirigian’s mother, who still lives in the same McLane High neighborhood, Pauline Soto confirms not only that story but others, too. Like the time Rick drew up his first contract — in crayon — to ratify his purchase of some baseball cards from a fifth-grade classmate. However, the agreement proved less than binding when the other boy’s mother called his mom to complain.
“Even as a little boy, he was always, always looking for a deal,” Soto said.
Ramirez title defense Saturday
Mirigian is 43 now, but that part hasn’t changed. The deals have just gotten bigger and more visible. Saturday night, in the main event of a Top Rank card at the MGM Grand “bubble” in Las Vegas, Ramirez puts his 25-0 record and WBC and WBO world championship belts on the line versus former champion Viktor Postol.
The winner may have a chance to unify all four major belts next year against WBA and IBF 140-pound champion Josh Taylor.
In Ramirez’s corner (at least figuratively) will be Mirigian — just as he has been since Jose’s days as an amateur vying for the 2012 London Olympics. During the years since, Ramirez’s talent and Mirigian’s shrewd promotion have made the Avenal native one of the sport’s top attractions. Five Ramirez-headlined events at Save Mart Center have drawn nearly 66,000 fans, topped by 14,034 for a February 2019 title defense on a Sunday afternoon.
Outside the ring, Mirigian’s tireless efforts have bolstered Ramirez’s social conscience as a spokesman and campaigner for farmworker, immigration and water rights. Examples include the long-running “Fight for Water” series; numerous donations to local hospitals, charities and needy individuals from the auction sales of Ramirez’s ring-worn gloves and trunks and their own pockets; and in April, a massive food, toilet paper and personal protection equipment relief effort for Kings County farmworkers co-sponsored by the Bautista Foundation.
“Rick always finds ways to make good things happen,” Ramirez said. “He has this great imagination and work ethic. You could say it’s his gift to make something out of nothing.”
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, in a February interview with local boxing podcast The Fighter’s Voice, called Mirigian “a terrific force of nature.”
“Rick is a tremendous promoter,” Arum said. “He never stops, this guy. I never saw a guy work around the clock like Rick does. He’s very innovative and very smart.”
Business blooms during pandemic
The success Ramirez and Mirigian have enjoyed together is starting to bear fruit on other branches. Last weekend, Mirigian announced on Instagram that he had signed an agreement to represent renowned trainer Robert Garcia and his boxing academy. Earlier in the month, he signed four more boxers to advisory and managerial deals, including budding featherweight superstar Ruben Villa of Salinas.
What other Fresno businessman can you name that has expanded operations during the coronavirus pandemic?
“When I talked to those fighters about Rick, the thing that got them excited the most is when I told them about how he is not going to be afraid to knock on every door and how he’s not going to wait for you to become a world champion before he starts trying,” Ramirez said.
“Rick is that rare guy. He does the work before guys become world champions.”
Even though Ramirez and Mirigian seem inseparable, like in any long-term relationship there have been growing pains and rough patches.
Still, it’s easy to see why the two men are compatible. Both are intelligent, industrious and driven. Before joining up with Ramirez, Mirigian made his name promoting concerts, comedy shows, nightclubs and mixed martial arts events in Fresno. He took it upon himself to learn the business of boxing.
Ramirez has a similar mindset, graduating from high school with a 3.8 GPA while brewing coffee at Starbucks and working off and on in the pepper fields.
“Jose’s greatest asset is his ability to work hard and to problem solve, and Rick’s the same way,” said Pete Lopes, the former Clovis youth boxing coach who in 2010 helped bring the pair together. “They’re very similar. You wouldn’t think that looking at them.”
Ramirez soft-spoken, Mirigian mouthy
The same can’t be said about their personalities. Ramirez is soft-spoken. He’d rather do his talking in the ring. By contrast, Mirigian is loquacious and full of bravado. This is a guy who, as a total unknown, mouthed off to legendary promoter Don King during a press conference in New York. Anyone who dares disparage his client on social media doesn’t stand a chance.
Mirigian likes to say his mouth has never written a check that Ramirez hasn’t cashed. But are there times when Ramirez wishes his mouthpiece would’ve kept the checkbook closed?
“At the beginning, yes,” said Ramirez, who gave Mirigian a five-year extension in 2019. “At the beginning, I was like, ‘Hey, Rick, just let people talk. You don’t always need to respond to certain comments and certain opinions. That’s not who I am. I do my talking in the ring.’ But you know, as time went on, it was working. He was talking, and I was proving him right.
“I started using his promotion as motivation to be reminded of my capabilities. From then, I just started letting him be. But there are times and certain things I don’t like still, and I do tell him. He listens, like any good manager would do. But that’s his persona. I don’t want to change him.”
It’s unlikely anyone could.
Cancer promotion hits home
Mirigian credits much of his success to persistence. (“I’m a guy who gets told no so often you wouldn’t believe me,” he said. “But it doesn’t stop me. Rejection just fuels me more.”) He also cites the example of DeWayne Zinkin, the Fresno-based agent for numerous mixed martial arts stars, for showing him how to protect his fighters.
However, the greatest figure in Mirigian’s life will always be Soto, who raised him as a single mom. Which is why, out of all the promotions he’s done, the single most meaningful to him is the “Let’s KO Cancer” event at Save Mart Center in 2019 that raised thousands for Fresno-area hospitals and charities.
The cause is personal for Mirigian because Soto is a cancer survivor.
“If I can capture someone emotionally, that’s what I’m shooting for,” he said. “I want to move people emotionally. Because I know if I move them emotionally they’ll never forget how they felt. And once you’ve done that, you’ve got them forever.”
Spoken like a born dealmaker.
This story was originally published August 27, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
