José Carlos Ramírez (born August 12, 1992) is an American

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

. He is a former unified

light welterweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

champion, having held the WBC title from 2018 to May 2021 and the

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

title from 2019 to May 2021. As an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History ...

he was the number one rated in the WBC

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

in the United States and represented the U.S at the

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. As of June 2020, he is ranked as the world's second best active light welterweight by ''The Ring'' and

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, and third by the

Transnational Boxing Rankings Board The Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (TBRB) is an all-volunteer initiative formed in October 2012 with the intention of providing professional boxing with authoritative top-ten rankings, identifying the singular world champion of every divisio ...

Amateur career

Ramírez won the United States national amateur boxing championships Lightweight tournament at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

. He's also a Jr. Golden Gloves National Champion, two-time Jr. Olympic National Champion, and a two-time Ringside World Champion. His family currently lives in Avenal, California where he's lived all his life. Jose qualified to represent the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

at the

by defeating 2008 Olympian

Raynell Williams Raynell Williams (born February 4, 1989 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American professional boxer who as an amateur, won several national championships and represented team USA at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Amateur career Southpaw counterpuncher Will ...

21-16 in the finals of the 2012 United States Olympic Boxing Trials. Ramírez beat Rachid Azzedine and then lost to Fazliddin Gaibnazarov at the 2012 Summer Olympics in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Professional career

Early career

Ramírez turned professional in 2012 and has been promoted by

Bob Arum Robert Arum (born December 8, 1931) is an American lawyer and boxing promoter. He is the founder and CEO of Top Rank, a professional boxing promotion company based in Las Vegas. Prior to becoming a boxing promoter, Arum was employed as an attorn ...

as a

Top Rank Top Rank, Inc. is a boxing promotional company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973, and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since its founding, Top Rank has promoted many world class fighters, including Muh ...

fighter since the same year. After compiling a perfect 15-0 record, Ramírez beat Johnny Garcia by

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighte ...

on December 5, 2015 to win the vacant WBC Continental Americas light welterweight title. He would go on to defend the title a total of four times.

WBC light welterweight champion

Ramírez vs. Imam

On March 17, 2018, Ramírez defeated Amir Imam by unanimous decision with scores of 120-108, 117-111 and 115-113 to win the vacant WBC super lightweight title. Ramírez had badly swelled Imam's right eye and landed all kinds of hard punches throughout the fight.

Ramírez vs. Orozco

In his next fight, Ramírez faced

Antonio Orozco Antonio Orozco (born 23 November 1972 in Barcelona) is a Spanish singer-songwriter. He has won several prizes like the Premio Ondas and sold many records; his first album sold more than 100,000 copies, whereas his second album titled ''Semilla d ...

, then #3 by the WBC at light welterweight, at the

Save Mart Center Save Mart Center at Fresno State is a multi-purpose arena, on the campus of California State University, Fresno (Fresno State), located in Fresno, California. An open house was held for the community on November 5, 2003, with the official ribbon ...

in Fresno, California. In an action-packed fight, the defending champion managed to drop his opponent twice, once in the fourth, and once in the eighth round. Despite the two knockdowns, Orozco gave his all and even was the aggressor at times. In the end, it was a clear win for Ramírez, all three judges scoring the fight 119-107 in favor of the champion.

Ramírez vs. Zepeda

In his next title defense, Ramírez faced

Jose Zepeda Jose Encarnacion Zepeda (born May 24, 1989) is an American professional boxer of Mexican descent who challenged for the WBO lightweight title in 2015 and the WBC light welterweight title in 2019. As of August 2020, he is ranked as the world's fi ...

, ranked #14 by the WBC at light welterweight. Zepeda was winning the early rounds of the fight. Ramírez started to gain control of the fight in the fourth round. Ramírez finished the fight strong, especially in the last 20 seconds, unleashing power shots on Zepeda. Ramírez won the fight via majority decision in a very competitive fight.

Unified light welterweight champion

Ramírez vs. Hooker

On July 27, 2019, Ramírez fought undefeated

light welterweight champion Maurice Hooker in a unification fight. In an action-packed fight, Ramírez first managed to drop Hooker in the opening round, and despite replays showing that Ramírez had stepped on Hooker's foot, it was ruled an official knockdown. As the rounds went on, the fight slowed down, which seemed to favor Hooker. However, in the sixth round, Ramírez connected on a left hand to the chin, followed by another big left to the head, which sent Hooker reeling against the ropes. As Hooker was helpless, the referee stopped the fight with 1:48 to go in the round, awarding Ramírez the technical knockout victory.

Ramírez vs. Postol

On August 29, 2020, Ramírez defended his WBC and WBO titles against former WBC champion

Viktor Postol Viktor Vasylovych Postol ( uk, Віктор Васильович Постол; born 16 January 1984) is a Ukrainian professional boxer who held the WBC light-welterweight title from 2015 to 2016 and challenged twice for the WBO light-welterweig ...

, winning a

majority decision A majority decision (MD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and others sports involving striking. In a majority decision, two of the three judges agree on wh ...

with scores of 116-112, 115-113, 114-114.

Ramírez vs. Taylor

On May 22, 2021, Ramírez attempted to become the first

undisputed champion Undisputed championship may refer to: *Undisputed championship (boxing) *Undisputed championship (professional wrestling) An undisputed championship is a professional wrestling term for a champion who has obtained all of the major individual c ...

of Mexican descent when he faced undefeated unified champion

Josh Taylor Josh or Joshua Taylor may refer to: * Josh Taylor (actor) (born 1943), American comedy and dramatic television actor * Josh Taylor (baseball) (born 1993), American professional baseball pitcher * Josh Taylor (boxer) (born 1991), Scottish professio ...

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in a showdown for the undisputed light welterweight championship. Ramírez was knocked down twice in the sixth and seventh rounds, both times by Taylor's left hand, and ultimately lost by unanimous decision with all three judges scoring the bout 114-112 in favor of Taylor.

Continued light welterweight career

Ramírez vs. Pedraza

On October 30, 2021, it was revealed that Ramírez would face the former two-weight world champion José Pedraza on February 5, 2022, in the main event of an

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

broadcast

card. The bout was later postponed for March 4, as Pedraza fell ill with flu-like symptoms. Ramirez won the bout by unanimous decision in a competitive fight, By all judges scoring it 116-112.

Professional boxing record

Personal life

Ramírez is of

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

descent, his parents are from the state of

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...

References

External links

*
Jose Ramírez Amateur record
at Boxing scoop
José Ramírez - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
a
Box.Live
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramirez, Jose 1992 births Living people Light-welterweight boxers World light-welterweight boxing champions World Boxing Council champions World Boxing Organization champions People from Kings County, California Boxers from California American male boxers American boxers of Mexican descent Olympic boxers of the United States Boxers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers