LAS VEGAS – It isn’t the biggest fight of the pandemic from a marketing standpoint, but Bob Arum proclaimed Jose Ramirez-Josh Taylor the best fight since the COVID-19 crisis began 14 months ago.
California’s Ramirez, 28, and Scotland’s Taylor, 30, will fight for full supremacy in the 140-pound division Saturday night. If their 12-round fight doesn’t result in a draw, the winner will become just the fifth fully unified male champion in any division during the sport’s four-belt era.
ESPN will air Ramirez-Taylor as the main event of a three-bout broadcast from The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, which means it’ll be available to a vast audience in the United States (8 p.m. EDT; 5 p.m. PDT). Fans outside of the U.S. and Canada can watch Ramirez-Taylor via pay-per-view on Fite.tv (£12.99; 1 a.m. BST in the United Kingdom).
“I’m really excited and it’s only appropriate,” Arum, whose company, Top Rank Inc., is promoting Ramirez-Taylor, said during a press conference Thursday. “Last June, in the middle of the pandemic, we decided that we would continue to put on boxing events. And we did them in the bubble, about 40 events, with no spectators. We went through the pandemic and now, at the end of this pandemic, which will take place again May 22nd, we have the best fight of the whole pandemic experience.
“So, I am really excited because this fight, you don’t have to sell anything about the fight. You just mention the two fighters, two undefeated fighters, each with two belts of the organizations. A really, true unified championship.”
Internet sports books consistently list Taylor (17-0, 13 KOs) as more than a 2-1 favorite versus Ramirez (26-0, 17 KOs). They’ll fight for Ramirez’s WBC and WBO belts, as well as Taylor’s IBF and WBA championships.
A small crowd of slightly more than 1,000 will be allowed to attend the Ramirez-Taylor card because COVID-19 restrictions remain in place in Nevada. Venues in Nevada will open up at 100-percent capacity starting June 1.
Ramirez and Taylor naturally want to box before a bigger crowd at a larger venue, but Arum is confident that the fascinating fight itself can’t miss.
“I don’t know of a fight that’s a better fight that we’ve done since the pandemic started,” Arum told BoxingScene.com. “Lomachenko and Lopez was a terrific fight, but it didn’t figure to be that close, and the underdog happened to win the fight. But this fight really is a pick ‘em fight.”
Brooklyn’s Teofimo Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs) upset Ukraine’s Vasiliy Lomachenko (14-2, 10 KOs) by unanimous decision in their 12-round, 135-pound championship unification fight October 17. Lopez retained his IBF belt and won the WBA “super,” WBC “franchise,” and WBO crowns from Lomachenko, a three-division champion who was a 4-1 favorite to defeat Lopez.
Lomachenko-Lopez was the main event of one of 26 events Top Rank staged behind closed doors at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas from June 9 until February 20. The Ramirez-Taylor show is the first event Arum’s company could promote with fans in attendance in Las Vegas since the card headlined by the Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder heavyweight championship rematch at MGM Grand Garden Arena in February 2020.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
