By Keith Idec
Boxing fans want to see Jose Ramirez face the winner of the upcoming Regis Prograis-Josh Taylor fight.
That bout would determine complete supremacy within the 140-pound division, as Ramirez holds the WBC and WBO titles and the Prograis-Taylor winner will own the IBF and WBA championships. Ramirez, fresh off the most noteworthy win of his career, is more than willing to make that fight happen.
It just won’t be the next fight for the unbeaten champion.
Bob Arum, Ramirez’s promoter, told BoxingScene.com that Ramirez must make a mandatory defense of either his WBC or WBO title when he returns to the ring later this year, either in November or December.
“He has two mandatories – one for the WBO and the other for the WBC,” Arum said. “One is [Viktor] Postol and the other is Jack Catterall. So, the organizations are gonna have to figure out who’s up next. And then, the plan would be that after he fought the guy who’s up next, he would ask the other organization for an exception for the unification fight.”
Ukraine’s Postol (31-2, 12 KOs) is the WBC’s mandatory challenger for the super lightweight championship Ramirez holds. England’s Catterall (24-0, 13 KOs) is the WBO’s mandatory challenger for Ramirez’s WBO junior welterweight title.
“As far as Jose is concerned and as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t matter which one he fights,” Arum said. “As long as everybody is happy, we’ll figure it out.”
The 26-year-old Ramirez (25-0, 17 KOs) stopped Dallas’ Maurice Hooker in the sixth round of their 140-pound title unification fight Saturday night to retain his WBC crown and take the WBO belt from Hooker (26-1-3, 17 KOs).
Ramirez received a career-high compensation package in excess of $4 million to travel to Hooker’s home area for that fight. DAZN streamed their action-packed battle from College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.
Ramirez will return to ESPN, with which Arum’s Top Rank Inc. has an exclusive content deal, for his next fight. Arum also expects for that fight against Postol or Catterall to be held either in the Los Angeles area or in Fresno, near Ramirez’s hometown of Avenal, California.
Ramirez repeatedly has attracted crowds in excess of 10,000 to Fresno State University’s Save Mart Arena, where he has established himself as one of the biggest draws among American boxers. Arum wants to showcase the Mexican-American Ramirez elsewhere as well.
“That hasn’t been decided yet,” Arum said. “But from my standpoint, I think he can be huge in the LA market. And I think coming off this victory, with this momentum, I would like to do his next fight in LA. But that hasn’t been decided yet. I have to talk to him, his people. He’s a tremendous attraction in Fresno, but I’ve gotta move him around. I don’t mind him fighting once a year in Fresno, but I think that would be enough. He has to fight other places.”
Meanwhile, New Orleans’ Prograis (24-0, 20 KOs), the WBA super lightweight champ, and Scotland’s Taylor (15-0, 12 KOs), the IBF junior welterweight champ, could fight as soon as October 5 in the final of the World Boxing Super Series’ 140-pound tournament. Prograis-Taylor likely will be contested somewhere in the United Kingdom.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.