Jose Ramirez vs. Victor Postol: Third Time’s a Charm

After 2 separate attempts to put on a fight between Jose Ramirez and Victor Postol, finally, the two will meet in the main event this Saturday on ESPN+. Ramirez has a lineal title in his sights later in 2020 or early 2021 with Josh Taylor but can’t afford a slip up versus a quality opponent in Postol. Regardless of the outcome, this bout should feature plenty of two-way action for the viewers at home. Let’s hope the third time is a charm and nothing gets in the way of these two meeting up in the ring.

Jose Ramirez is a rising name in boxing especially in his hometown of Avenal, about an hour from Fresno, California. Jose has done well as a ticket seller at the Save Mart Center, the venue that was supposed to host the fight in May. Back in February, this matchup was originally planned for China but pushed back from coronavirus. Ramirez was 20 fights in to his career before stepping up from prospect to contender with victories over then unbeaten Mike Reed, Amir Imam, and Antonio Orozco in 2018. The learning curve had paid off after a rough moment coming up the ranks Ramirez strung an impressive group on names which included a vacant WBC strap.

Enter Jose Zepeda in early 2019, an experienced and tested vet with a shiny record of 30-1 with his only loss coming to Terry Flanagan. Many boxing experts assumed it would be a clean win for Ramirez but that was definitely not the case. The back and forth drama that ensued was great from a fan’s standpoint but it wasn’t what we had seen from Jose in his 3 prior outings. Ramirez was sloppy on defense getting hit way too much with flush shots and looked as though he might have taken a step back. It should be pointed out that the majority-decision wasn’t a bad outcome because it’s not like Zepeda had won 7 or 8 easy to score rounds. All and all maybe Jose needed to be reminded that he can’t just go in there an brawl on the world level.

Based off the Zepada fight and Maurice Hooker’s convincing performance by stopping Alex Saucedo, many assumed this was a 50-50 type fight on paper. Hooker does have some outside skills and some really felt Hooker would out-box Ramirez and exploit his defense weaknesses. Portions of that last sentence were totally fair but those same folks had blocked out of their mind Hooker’s short comings along with a few draws, and he probably should’ve already lost. But that’s why we watch the fights and this Saturday is no different. As we all know now, Ramirez brutally knocked out Hooker after the two traded blows in the early going.

Just like the fans and media who underestimated Ramirez, let’s not act like Victor Postol is an easy night in the ring. Yes Postol’s only major victory came against Lucas Matthysse and it is fair to say ‘The Machine’ had looked a bit shopworn post Danny Garcia. This podcaster does think that’s a fair assessment to an extent that said Postol’s jab and accurate punching can’t be denied in that Lucas fight. As a rising fighter, Postol had faced some good contender making guys as well in Hank Lundy and Selcuk Aydin. Of course at the highest level Terence Crawford took him apart in strategic fashion. Victor won the first round or so then Crawford flashed us a on the move boxer-type adjustment and dominated every round thereafter.

Victor Postal vs. Josh Taylor was a damn good scrap, so don’t be surprised if Saturday’s bout turns out in a similar way. But it will likely have to be Postal who is using angles and stepping to the side or pivoting on the aggressor in Ramirez. My scorecard was around 8-4 or 7-5 in favor of Josh Taylor but once again Ramirez doesn’t fight all that similar to Taylor or Crawford for that matter. Postol will be in a more comfortable scenario as far as having a guy in Jose coming to him. The Ukrainian sports an impressive and meaningful jab something he will have to be active with all night in effort to keep Jose at bay as much as possible. Left hooks to head and body while mixing in straight right hands all following his jab is the winning formula for Postol.

For Ramirez, he will have to make Postol uncomfortable by cutting the distance and getting him off his spots. Cutting the ring and trapping Postol near or on the ropes will allow him to attack the body as well as decrease Postol’s energy and help poke a hole in his defense. What Ramirez can’t do is stand in the middle of the ring or not set up his power punches with a jab and footwork on the way inside. Ramirez shouldn’t fall into an exchange fest as he did in the past against Zepeda.

At the end of the day I’m just not completely sold that Postol can keep a controlled raged Ramirez off of him and once Jose lands a big shot, he can close the show in a heartbeat. The question had to be asked last week, if Alvarez could be on the move for the majority of a fight with Joe Smith Jr. and we saw how that turned out. Not the same exact type of fight this week but the question still remains if Postol can fight on the move with sturdy defense all 12-rounds. If this fight doesn’t end in a knockout look for Postol to win more rounds then the betting odds tell us. By the way for those who care and think Postol in getting overlooked some, Postal stands at a +425 which seems a bit too high. Anyway, it should be a fun scrap with a somewhat clear winner in Jose.

My official Prediction is Jose Ramirez by Unanimous Decision. (Possible Majority)

Side Note: Erislandy Lara returns on FOX but the real entertainment should come from the crossroads co-feature between Caleb Truax and Alfredo Angulo.

Written by Chris Carlson Host/Producer of The Rope A Dope Radio Podcast Available at www.blogtalkradio.com/ropeadoperadio & TheGruelingTruth.Com Follow on Twitter @RopeADopeRadio