Jose Ramirez and Amir Imam will be fighting for history. Ireland’s Michael “Mick” Conlan is ready to impress.
Longtime promotional rival Bob Arum of Top Rank and Don Kin of DKP were reunited at the press conference.
Ramirez (21-0, 16 KOs), from Avenal, Calif., will face Imam (21-1, 18 KOs) for the vacant World Boxing Council (WBC) Super Lightweight title, marking the 2,000th world title bout in the WBC’s 55-year history. The winner of the bout will receive a special belt commemorating the occasion.
And, one year to the day after making his professional debut at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square, Conlan (5-0, 4 KOs) returns to the venue to face David Berna (15-2, 14 KOs) in an eight-round featherweight special attraction. Joining Conlan at the press conference was WWE superstar Finn Bálor, who presented Conlan with a WWE championship belt.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk (14-0, 12 KOs), one of the light heavyweight division’s most fearsome punchers, will fight France’s Mehdi Amar (34-5-2 16 KOs) for the interim WBC Light Heavyweight title.
“Don King, who’s sitting on my left, has a big picture of the man who is, unfortunately, the President of the United States [Donald Trump]. I’m here with a red cap that says, ‘pro-immigrant and proud.’ I really dedicate this card to the Dreamers, particularly, who deserve a pathway to citizenship because they are contributing greatly to this country," Arum said.
"And to the immigrants who came here illegally, who worked their whole lives in the fields, picking the produce that fed the people in the United States and around the world, we have to find a way to give these people the pathway to citizenship.”
Ramirez vs. Imam, Conlan vs. Berna, and Gvozdyk vs. Amar will headline a spectacular St. Patrick’s Day world title extravaganza, Saturday, March 17, at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden. The Ramirez vs. Imam world championship event will be televised live and exclusively at 8 p.m. EST on ESPN and stream live on the ESPN App, beginning at 5:30 p.m. EST.