SPORTS SHORTS 137: JOSH TAYLOR DOMINATES JOSE RAMIREZ TO BECOME AN ELITE UNDISPUTED WORLD CHAMPION IN THE FOUR-BELT ERA
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 23 May 2021
Josh Taylor joined an exclusive group of undisputed champions in boxing’s four belts of the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO, beating Jose Ramirez by unanimous decision to totally unify the light welterweight division in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Taylor (18-0, 13 KOs) won with scores of 114-112 on all three judges' scorecards as he knocked Ramirez down in the sixth and seventh rounds which piled up his points. Without at least one knockdown, the fight would have resulted in a very controversial draw, although they were both hard knockdowns.
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Taylor had a very good start, and he had a clear advantages in his speed and accuracy. But Ramirez (26-1, 17 KO) went to the body, connecting some solid punches, making the fight real competitive.
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After the two trips to the canvas it looks like the fight won't go to a distance. But Taylor could not finish Ramirez who fought gallantly to the end and concluded the fight on his feet.
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“I’ve got nothing but love for Ramirez. This week was no disrespect, it was all just part of the mind games to get inside his head, to make him more eager to jump in at me, to use his aggression against him,” Taylor said as quoted by Bad Left Hook.
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“We said all week in the build-up we were going to use his aggression against him. That’s what we did. We played the games up until this week to purely get in his head," added Taylor.
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"There was no disrespect. It’s all love. I’ve got nothing but love and respect for Ramirez, I think he was a great champion, a great ambassador for the sport. I wish him all the best in the future.”
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Taylor also believed that the scoring was closer than what he actually did in the fight. "I thought the score cards were a little bit tight, I thought they were well wider than that,” he said.
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“I wasn’t too happy with the selection of the judges, but I wasn’t going to moan because I was so confident in winning this fight anyway. Two knockdowns and I won most of the rounds, and they scored it 114-112, which is a bit too close for my liking.”
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Ramirez’s trainer Robert Garcia congratulated Taylor. "You don’t see (undisputed champions) often,” he said. “He earned it, and he made history. But from what people are telling me, the second knockdown was kind of on a break or something, but I’ll have to go back and see it. But we win some, and we can’t win ‘em all.”
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The 30-year old Josh Taylor of Prestonpans, Scotland, had the WBA and IBF light welterweight championship belts and a win over Regis Prograis to climax a series of victories in the World Boxing Super Series.
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The 28-year old Jose Ramirez of Avenal, California, an American with Mexican descent, was the WBC and WBO light welterweight title holder. He qualified for the 2012 Olympics and won his pair of belts in a unification triumph over Maurice Hooker on July 27, 2019 which is considered his greatest achievement.
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Most handicappers had Taylor slightly more than a 2-1 favorite to beat Ramirez in the main event from The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. And Taylor become just the fifth fully unified male champion in any division during the present four-belt era.
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The other male fighters who unified an entire division in the four belt era are:
Oleksandr Usyk, cruiserweight
Bernard Hopkins, middleweight
Jermain Taylor, middleweight
Terence Crawford, light welterweight
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This fight might not be as popular as Aaron Pryor vs. Alexis Arguello or Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Meldrick Taylor, but it extended the tradition of the junior welterweight as an exciting division.
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But it was the most interesting match up at light welterweight since Danny Garcia vs. Lucas Matthysse and emerged the second champion to unify the four major belts of WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO in the division after Terence Crawford.
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"The Tartan Tornado" Taylor is ranked as the world's best active light-welterweight by The Ring, BoxRec and the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and the No. 9 best active boxer, pound-for-pound, by The Ring.
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"JCR" Ramírez is ranked as the world's second best active light welterweight by The Ring and BoxRec, and third by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board before the fight.
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Both fighters are 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) but the orthodox Ramirez has the reach advantage at 72.5 in (184 cm), compared to the southpaw Taylor's 69.5 in (177 cm). Both officially weighed 139.6 lbs (63 kg).
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2012 London Olympic Boxing Gold Medalists
Men
Light flyweight Zou Shiming of China
Flyweight Robeisy Ramírez of Cuba
Bantamweight Luke Campbell of Great Britain
Lightweight Vasyl Lomachenko of Ukraine
Light welterweight Roniel Iglesias of Cuba
Welterweight Serik Sapiyev of Kazakhstan
Middleweight Ryōta Murata of Japan
Light heavyweight Egor Mekhontsev of Russia
Heavyweight Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine
Super heavyweight Anthony Joshua of Great Britain
Women
Flyweight Nicola Adams of Great Britain
Lightweight Katie Taylor of Ireland
Middleweight Claressa Shields of United States
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2021 NBA Playoffs: First-round series
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Philadelphia 76ers (1) vs. Washington Wizards (8)
Brooklyn Nets (2) vs. Boston Celtics (7)
Milwaukee Bucks (3) vs. Miami Heat (6)
New York Knicks (4) vs. Atlanta Hawks (5)
* * *
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Utah Jazz (1) vs. Memphis Grizzlies (8)
Phoenix Suns (2) vs. L.A. Lakers (7)
Denver Nuggets (3) vs. Portland Trail Blazers (6)
LA Clippers (4) vs. Dallas Mavericks (5)
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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