![]() ![]() In a Sunday text message exchange with The Athletic, Valcarcel said, “We sanctioned Ramirez-Postol with the condition that the winner face (our) mandatory challenger within 120 days. 26 against Thailand’s Alpinun Khongsong, the best thing for boxing would be a successful belt retention that would lead to a full unification instead of interrupting it by assigning Ramirez to fight mandatory foe Jack Catterall. Valcarcel’s comment doesn’t have teeth, according to Ramirez and Taylor promoter Bob Arum, but he isn’t budging at the moment.Īs Taylor moves toward a defense of his WBA/IBF belts on Sept. With “Paco” saying Jose Ramirez will have to fight his WBO mandatory next, will we have to wait for an undisputed Josh Taylor fight or do we still see the Taylor fight next? If we do see an undisputed fight next, then I don’t want to hear about Anthony Joshua-Oleksandr Usyk. Let’s deal with this and more in this week’s mailbag. That would be something other than the fight everyone expects: a unification against fellow two-belt champion Josh Taylor (16-0, 12 KOs) of Scotland, perhaps by December. It was a closer fight than I thought, but Ramirez retains his Championship. But, before he considers the far more dangerous and spiteful menace of Crawford, Taylor should enjoy the giddy heights he has just climbed as that rare beast in boxing – an undisputed world champion.More curious for the 28-year-old Ramirez (26-0, 17 KOs) was the post-fight tweet from WBO President Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel, who said his mandatory opponent would be next. It is a sign of his renown in world boxing that he can now make such a legitimate claim. “I am not going to call him out, he is a great fighter, but two undisputed champions going at it would be awesome.” “I would like to go up to 147 and chase big fights like Crawford,” Taylor said. Crawford, like Taylor, is one of only five fighters to have unified all the belts in his division. “I’ve not boxed in my home city for a few years so now is the time to get that fight at Edinburgh Castle or Easter Road.”Īfter that sweet homecoming, Taylor plans to move up to welterweight where indisputably great fighters like Terence Crawford and Errol Spence operate. Taylor might have to make a mandatory defence against Jack Catterall, another British fighter, before he turns his attention to bigger and more lucrative contests in America. ![]() The night belonged to Scotland’s undisputed king of the ring. He was a great champion and a great ambassador for the sport.” But I have nothing but love and respect for Ramírez. “It was just part of the mind games to get inside his head to make him more eager to jump in on me, to use his aggression against him,” Taylor said. Taylor apologised after the fight and claimed that his antics, which were so different to the humble behaviour of his rival, were premeditated. He also tried to attack Ramírez after the weigh-in. I had to try take control multiple times because of my lack of discipline in the clinching.”īoth men were undefeated before the fight and, while they respected each other in the ring, Taylor had been obnoxious on Friday when he taunted Ramírez and threatened to beat up his manager. ![]() “After the fifth I was thinking: ‘Man, I’m doing really well.’ But obviously his confidence grew after those knockdowns. Ramírez agreed that the outcome was decided by those two rounds. He was very tough, hats off to Ramírez, but after I put him down the fight was on my terms.” “I actually think the referee gave him too much time,” Taylor said of the decisive second knockdown. He was on his back, looking as vulnerable as a turtle flipped on its shell, as Bayless was again slow to start counting. Ramírez crumpled slowly but, when he hit the canvas, it was with a heavy thud. As Bayless stepped towards the fighters and slapped Taylor on the arm to complete the break, the Scot unleashed a short and brutal uppercut. In the seventh round, the fighters stepped back from a clinch while the referee Kenny Bayless was slow to separate them. The Mexican-American was up at the count of two but it was a clear psychological boost for Taylor who, with blood trickling from a minor cut under his left eye, had fought patiently until then. Ramírez was not hurt badly by a left counter which put him down early in the sixth round. I’m so, so happy.”Ī tense and absorbing contest, which an aggressive and strong Ramírez had edged for the first five rounds, was changed utterly by two knockdowns that showed Taylor’s clinical brilliance. “I’ve dedicated my life to this moment,” Taylor said. He had just become the first British fighter, and only the fifth man in the modern four-belt era of boxing, to be the undisputed world champion of his division after he added Ramírez’s WBC and WBO junior-welterweight titles to the WBA and IBF straps he already owned. ![]()
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