When will Jose Ramirez return to ring? Will it be in Fresno? His agent, Top Rank weigh in
Jose Ramirez soon will be back in the boxing ring, and it’ll be in Fresno. But exactly when remains unknown, at least officially.
The former WBC and WBO junior welterweight champion will begin training this week for his next fight and it appears the venue and opponent are set.
ESPN’s Mike Coppinger reported Saturday that Ramirez (26-1, 17 KOs) would return to the ring Feb. 5 against Jose Pedraza (29-3, 14 KOs).
The Bee partially confirmed those details this week, with Top Rank executive Carl Moretti saying Feb. 5 “is the likely date.”
Two weeks ago, Ramirez’s agent/promoter Rick Mirigian was finalizing a deal for the 2012 U.S. Olympian from Avenal to return to the ring at the Save Mart Center.
“I’ve been dealing with Top Rank and we’re going to have Ramirez back in Fresno,” Mirigian said. “I was able to make a deal and I can tell you he will fight in Fresno next, which is what we all wanted and we’re fine tuning the date.”
Ramirez hasn’t fought since May 22, when he took on Josh Taylor in a 12-round undisputed championship bout. The Avenal native lost by unanimous decision for his first pro defeat.
Ramirez is looking forward to getting back in action.
“I learned from my loss and my mistakes, but I know I have so much more to prove,” he said. “It wasn’t my best performance. Things happened and I took my loss and it’s time to move forward.”
For now, Ramirez will remain at 140 pounds and would like to get one more world title in the division before he moves up to 147.
Ramirez said he would like to face Taylor in a rematch, even if it’s at 147, but for now he wants to face a top contender at 140.
“I deserve to face the best,” he said. “I don’t want tuneup fights and I don’t want a warm-up fight. I don’t want no confidence booster fights.
“I promise to work hard and boost myself and be mentally prepared. Sometimes when you lose, you learn and I feel like I learned a lot with myself and some of the things I was slacking on I’m going to work on and you will see a warrior in me “
