What do Jose Ramirez and Muhammad Ali have in common? Bob Arum has that answer
Longtime boxing promoter Bob Arum referenced Muhammad Ali this week while explaining why Jose Ramirez was scheduled to defend his world boxing titles in China.
“You want to show (Jose Ramirez) more around the world,” Arum said on a media conference call. “I believe Jose Ramirez ... and I’m not comparing him to the great Ali. Ali was very unique.
“But so is Jose.”
Arum, founder and CEO of Top Rank, will have to wait to show Ramirez to the boxing fans in China.
Ramirez (25-0, 17 KOs) had been scheduled to make a mandatory defense of his WBC/WBO junior welterweight titles against Viktor Postol (31-2, 12 KOs) on Feb. 1 at Mission Hills Haikou, an island golf resort south of Hong Kong.
But Top Rank announced Thursday night that it was postponing the bout because of the coronavirus outbreak in China.
“The health and safety of our fighters and everyone working on the event is the most important thing,” Arum said. “We hope the situation is brought under control soon. We look forward to staging events at Mission Hills Haikou in the very near future.”
Arum still would like to showcase Ramirez on the international stage.
A replacement date and venue is being determined, though Ramirez’s next fight likely will be held in the United States.
Ali connection
Here’s why Arum has been adamant about Ramirez fighting internationally.
Arum said he promoted 25 of Ali’s fights. His first 18 took place in the United States before fighting at London’s Wembley Stadium in 1963.
Ali went on to fight out-of-country 14 times.
“All over the world,” Arum said, “whether it was in Asia, Japan, Europe, Germany, UK or Ireland, because if you get a great person and a great fighter, you want to show him more around the world.”
The canceled Feb. 1 match was supposed to be Ramirez’s second trip to China.
In 2015, Ramirez fought in Macao, which remains the boxer’s lone out-of-country pro bout.
Ramirez grew up helping his parents work in the fields of Avenal.
Since he’s found pro boxing success, he has committed to humanitarian work such as food giveaways and promoted causes such as breast cancer awareness and water rights. (He headlined a series of Save Mart Center cards billed as the “Fight for Water.”)
“Not only is he a tremendous fighter but he epitomizes the American dream,” Arum said. “When you look at his history – how his family came over to work in the fields and how he worked in the fields as a young man – he not only rose from his own boot straps to become educated and to become a great athlete, but he also had this drive to be an activist in his community.
“That is something special and that is why you take somebody like Jose and you just don’t put him in the United States. But you show him around the world and show what a great country America is, and what a great person Jose is.”
