Former WBC/WBO light welterweight champion Jose Ramirez and Richard Commey have agreed to a contest on March 25th at the Save Mart Arena in Fresno, California.
This is a fight that has been talked about for Ramirez (27-1, 17 KOs) wanting after he turned down a title shot against WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis.
Boxing fans on social media haven’t reacted favorably to the news of Ramirez taking a fight with the fading former IBF lightweight champion Commey (30-4-1, 27 KOs) rather than fighting for a world title against WBC 140-lb champion Prograis.
Fans believe that Ramirez’s confidence is shot after the combination of his loss to Josh Taylor in 2021 and his harder-than-expected fight against Jose Pedraza in 2022.
“Jose Ramirez and Richard Commey have agreed to a deal for a March 25 fight in Fresno, California,” said ESPN.
Ramirez has good punching power, but he’s looked bad in his fights lately, and he’s not active enough to stay sharp with his one-fight-a-year habit. He needs to be busier than that if he wants to stay on top of his game, and he’s not doing that.
In hindsight, Ramirez made a mistake by not taking the Prograis fight because he could be waiting a long time before he’s given another title shot.
If he’s hoping Top Rank will set him up in a rematch with Josh Taylor for his WBO belt, it might not happen soon. Taylor has a fight coming up against Jack Catterall, and if he wins that, he could face Teofimo Lopez.
That’s a fight that Top Rank will likely make in 2023 because they’re not going to throw Teofimo in with Prograis after the way he looked in beating Jose Zepeda.
Ramirez will need to fight a little better than he did against Pedraza and Taylor if he wants to come out victorious against the 35-year-old because he can still punch.
Granted, Commey has seen better days, as his recent 1-2-1 record in his last four fights would attest, but he can still punch, and Ramirez has no defense at all.
He walks straight ahead, allowing himself to get hit with virtually everything his opponent throws at him. Against a puncher like Commey, that might be risky.
Commey is coming off a draw against Jose Pedraza, and before that, Vasyl Lomachenko beat him in 2021.