WBC/WBO champion Jose Ramirez and WBA/IBF champion Josh Taylor were all business Thursday at the final press conference for Saturday’s undisputed junior welterweight world title showdown at The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.
Ramirez (26-0, 17 KOs) and Taylor (17-0, 13 KOs) are fighting, not only to maintain their unbeaten records, but to become the sixth man to attain undisputed status in the four-belt era. For the first time since the matchup was officially announced nearly three months ago, the two best 140-pound fighters in the world were face to face. A little good-natured trash talk followed. But that’s to be expected.
Two days before the fight, this is what Taylor, Ramirez and Top Rank chairman Bob Arum had to say.
Bob Arum
“I’m very excited. Now at the end of this pandemic, we have the best fight of the whole pandemic experience. We don’t have to sell anything about this fight. We just mention the fighters. They are both undefeated, both former Olympians, both world champions. This will be a great fight!”
“With Jose as a fighter, you have seen his accomplishments, but I’m more impressed with the man he is outside of the ring. I’m proud of Jose.”
Jose Ramirez
“It’s an honor for me to face a great fighter like Taylor. This will be the best fight of the year.”
“He is very prideful of his country and I respect that. That’s the way a champion should be.”
“This has been a great training camp. I’m very motivated. It will be an honor and a blessing to make history as the first Mexican undisputed champion.”
“I believe a fighter like Taylor will bring out the best in me. He is a technical fighter, and when you face a fighter like that, you see everything clearly. You will see all the small things that I have worked on and that will show the experience I have as a fighter. You will see all my skills, and I will put on a show against a great fighter.”
“I’ve never been a fan of opinions of who is the best fighter out there. Sometimes people don’t understand that especially at this level, each fight is going to be tough. I always train like I’m the underdog. I always train like each fight is the biggest fight of my career. I can’t afford to lose. That’s always been my mentality. I always find a way to win.”
Josh Taylor
“I loved every single minute of camp in Las Vegas. Felt great to be back to normal.”
“I respect every fighter that jumps in the ring. You don’t become a unified champion out of anywhere. You have to be a great fighter. I highly respect him. He is a great fighter and a great person, but on Saturday night, as soon as that bell rings, all that goes out the window”
“This fight means the world to me. Puts my name in the history books as one of the {best} Scottish fighters in history. That’s why I have trained so hard for this fight. I dedicated my whole life to the sport. I’m so confident. This is a pure boxing fight.”
“I’m confident I’m getting the KO on Saturday.”
No predictions this time.
Haven’t seen these guys fight before so will just sit back and enjoy.
Ref stops the fight at the end of round 2 !!
To stop the round as usual and indicate the boxers to go to their corners..
This should be a good scrap.
Who has Taylor beat to be ranked top ten pound for pound by the ring?
Miguel Vazquez, Viktor Postol, Ivan Baranchyk and Regis Prograis.
He doesn’t deserve to be. He should get ranking points for his competition. You should only be giving P4P by totally destroying or overly competitive to your weight or have success moving up in weight. He hasn’t done either. Errol Spence doesn’t belong on that list either.
Anthony you said Errol Spence doesn’t belong on the P4P list??? Do you just dislike Spence for some reason or do you just not understand boxing?
Errol Spence got that ranking way early and it was solely based in his size for the division. Kos to a fading guy and Brook is when he popped in there. Without facing any of the too guys like Thurman, Pacman, D. Garcia, or Showtime. He pretty much drawed with Showtime, barely beat him. Did work on M Garcia but didn’t ko a much smaller guy. With that assessment based on his size he’s actually the opposite of P4P. In order to receive it in your weight class you need to destroy guys like Kovalev or GGG were. He’s not even the champ if that division. Thurman was the king and he got injured. But he was never beaten. Pacman beat the linear champ. If none of that makes sense. I highly question your knowledge.
He competed and won the Muhammad Ali trophy & 140 lbs tournament. Winning the tournament and facing the best opposition at 140 lbs makes him deserving of a PFP ranking – in my estimation.
He competed & won the Muhammad Ali trophy at 140 lbs. Winning the tournament and beating the best competition at 140 lbs makes him deserving of a PFP ranking, in my estimation.
That estimation is wrong. That trophy is nothing unless every fighter in the division is in it. And P4P is about what you can do with your weight to heavier guys.or how much better you are at your weight not only in your era but across several.
Ring Magazine that is…
Potential fight of the year , it’s a shame that many fans and other boxers aren’t aware of these two.
Been waiting a year for this fight. Cheering for Ramirez. Hard to pick a winner but I think aggression will be on Ramirez’s side and that’s why he wins. But I’ll give Taylor props for his hardcore step ups in competition without a lot of fights. Ramirez 2-1 underdog is a little over the top
pernell beats both these guys same night