By: Sean Crose
“Pen to paper.” Josh Taylor tweeted on Tuesday. “Signed, sealed & delivered.”
With those simple words, the junior welterweight multititlist made it clear that people will no longer have to wait for a fight between he and fellow titlist Jose Ramirez to become official. The match is now officially on, set for May 22’nd to be aired live on ESPN. There hasn’t been an undisputed champ at 140 since Terence Crawford. What’s more, undisputed champions are about as rare these days as Haley’s Comet sightings. This fight is a big event for the sport – not just because of the accolades involved for the winner, but for the quality of opposition that will be meeting in the ring.
The thirty year old Taylor currently boasts a record of 17-0 with 12 KOs. His last fight was a first round knockout of Apinum Khongsong back in September. Before that, in 2019, the Scottsman surprised a lot of people when he convincingly decisioned the highly touted Regis Prograis in Britain. Taylor has also bested the likes of Viktor Postol and Ryan Martin over the past three years or so. The match with Ramirez will undoubtedly be the biggest of Taylor’s life.
As for the twenty-eight year old Ramirez, the Californian has 26 wins to his name and not a single defeat. Seventeen of those wins have come by way of knockout. Ramirez was last seen decisioning the aforementioned Postol back in August of last year. He’s also bested such notables as Maurice Hooker, Jose Zepada, and Antonio Orasco. Like Taylor, however, the man will be entering the biggest fight of his life when he slips in between the ropes this May.
“I look forward to making history by becoming the first boxer of Mexican descent to hold all four major world title belts,” say Ramirez. “I dedicate this fight to the Central Valley farm workers, who are out there every day helping feed the world. This fight is big, but nothing is bigger than getting vaccinations to the farm workers right now in the Central Valley.”
“I’m excited it’s been finalized and over the line,” claims Taylor. “I can’t wait to get in there for the biggest fight of my career. Fighting for the undisputed title is something all boxers dream about.”
With expectations running high, the May 22nd fight is one of the biggest junior welterweight showdowns in years, the all time king being Aaron Pryor’s successful defense of his WBA belt against Alexis Arguello in the early 1980s. If Taylor-Ramirez brings half as much excitement as that classic, fans will have much to be pleased with indeed.
