By: Hans Themistode
Even if the first defeat in his career happened more than 9 months ago, Jose Ramirez still remembers it like yesterday. Not only did the 29-year-old taste the scene on more than one occasion with Josh Taylor in the super-lightweight unification in May 2021, he was also forced to sit back and accept that he fought a who is simply better than him.
With Ramirez still elated by how things ultimately turned out, the former 140-pound champion vented his frustrations with Jose Pedraza.
In front of a mostly supportive Ramirez crowd at Save Mart Arena in Fresno, California, Ramirez melted the former multi-division champion with his relentless pressure.
As the opening bell rang, Ramirez rushed to the center of the ring and stabbed his man in the chest. Pedraza was immediately pushed halfway into the box but seemed unfazed by Ramirez’s opener.
Ramirez undulated and intertwined while moving forward in the early games. Once he is within range, it will fly away. Seemingly caught off guard, Pedraza mostly swooped in and let his men’s blows bounce off his gauntlet harmlessly.
With Ramirez advancing for most of the round, he continued his offensive in the second inning. Pedraza bounces around the ring while trying to play matador with Ramirez’s bull.
Defensively, Pedraza was sharp but he simply couldn’t attack during the first two innings. In the third round, Ramirez found Pedraza a difficult target to take down, so he focused his attack on midfield instead. The former unified champ took a lot of hits down the stairs while continuing to move forward.
As the mid-round passed, Ramirez slowed down just enough for Pedraza to regain his rhythm. He let Ramirez explode while leaning on a rope and controlled the distance for most of the time between their fight.
Despite stringing together several rounds, Ramirez still turned it on in the second half of their competition. Like in previous rounds, Ramirez and his relentless pressure helped Pedraza play better. A stiff right hand in the ninth round moved Pedraza to his core. Moments later, his right eye began to swell.
In the tenth round, Pedraza fought a lot more defensively. Despite refusing to participate, Ramirez continued to apply pressure. He pushed Pedraza over and over while continuing to shoot.
With Pedraza seemingly failing to be graded by the judges to advance to round 12 and in the end, he delivered glowing shots in the final three minutes. He threw Ramirez into the ropes that forced him to take a step back. Yet even with Pedraza off to a strong start, Ramirez ended the show. He landed a number of unanswered shots in the last minute of their contest. In addition, in the final seconds, Ramirez tagged Pedraza with strong blows until the final seconds of the clock ticking.
In the end, Ramirez and his hometown crowd burst out laughing as he was given a pretty unanimous decision. All three match-scoring judges viewed their performance the same, awarding identical scorecards of 116-112 in favor of Ramirez.
