Roach Impressed With Jose Ramirez, Wants to Improve Defense

By Steve Kim

This past Saturday night, Jose Ramirez picked up his biggest career win to date, when he won a solid twelve round unanimous decision over Amir Imam, who was viewed as a very live opponent. The fight was televised nationally by ESPN.

By defeating Iman, Ramirez (who improved to 22-0, 16 KO's) captured the vacant WBC 140-pound belt. The title opened up after Terence Crawford moved up to the welterweight division.

Ramirez is trained by Hall of Fame coach Freddie Roach, who trained numerous world champions like Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, James Toney and others.

So what did Roach think of Ramirez's title winning effort against the tough Imam the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York?

"He really fought at a high level, it was a great performance. His work ethic was really good. He threw a lot more punches and I think that's what won him the fight - he landed a lot more punches,'' said Roach, who lauded Imam as, ''a very, very tough guy."

Roach has trained Ramirez the past few years and has seen great improvement from his charge.

"He's come a long, long away, he's really put everything together but he's still very aggressive,'' said Roach, who then added to BoxingScene.com - ''Although, maybe sometimes too aggressive and he should box a little bit more and be a little bit smarter about the way he fights. But the thing is he had a successful game plan the other night and it worked well for him.

"He can get better," continued Roach. "We need to work on his defense a little bit more. He got hit a little bit too  much, stayed in the pocket a little bit too long, got hit with those uppercuts and hooks. But other than that, he's going to do OK."

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.