John ‘Scrappy’ Ramirez went deeper than ever before to earn his latest win.

The rising junior bantamweight claimed a ten-round, unanimous decision victory over Guadalajara’s Luis Padilla. Scores of 100-90, 99-91 and 99-91 landed in favor of Ramirez in their DAZN-aired main event Thursday evening at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California.

Ramirez took the lead in the early rounds while aiming to play to the crowd. Padilla was outgunned in the power department and slow out the gate to guard against the superior hand speed of Ramirez, a 26-year-old Los Angeleno and stablemate of Gilberto 'Zurdo' Ramirez. 

Time was called midway through round three after Ramirez suffered a cut high on the forehead as the result of a headbutt. Action resumed, and Ramirez continued to go on the attack though at a controlled pace.

Ramirez played to the crowd late in round four. The unbeaten contender—who is co-promoted by Golden Boy and Zurdo Promotions—stomped his feet before he let rip a two-punch combination. Padilla was cognizant of the incoming and minimized the impact.

The tactic was detected by Ramirez’ head trainer, Julian Chua, who encouraged the young boxer to tighten up his punches rather than load up on single shots. Ramirez listened to a degree, though he drew the ire of the crowd when he laid along the ropes and dared Padilla to engage.

Padilla dramatically increased his punch output in an entertaining round seven. Ramirez—who’d never previously fought past the sixth round—continued to come forward, which made it easier for Padilla to fire his left hook. Ramirez was quicker to the draw with his combinations, which also set up his right uppercut and straight right hand.

Ramirez was encouraged by his corner to target the body and build a foundation toward closing the show. He obliged to a degree, connecting downstairs but not committing to a sustained attack. Padilla fought through a bloodied nose to dial up his left hook. Ramirez took the shots and continued to come forward as he pounded out a well-earned decision in lieu of the knockout finish requested by his corner.

Ramirez advanced to 11-0 (8KOs) with the win. A regional title comes with the feat, as his team will revisit previous plans for a title eliminator. He was originally ordered to face Thailand’s Sirichai Thaiyen, with the two sides declaring that a deal was reached only for the matchup to never make its way to the calendar.

The hope now is to revisit those plans.

“You know what I need next,” Ramirez told Golden Boy’s Brandy Flores. “I need that title eliminator. After that, I need the champions. Joshua Franco, he got the WBA. It’s all business, never personal.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox