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 fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

. He is a former

unified champion In boxing, the undisputed champion of a weight class is the boxer who simultaneously holds world titles from all major organizations recognized by each other and the International Boxing Hall of Fame. There are currently four major sanctioning bodi ...

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, ...

, having held the

World Boxing Council The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...

(WBC) title from 2018 to 2021 and the

World Boxing Organization 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 ...

(WBO) title from 2019 to 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, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

he represented the United States at the

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Amateur career

Ramírez won the

United States national amateur boxing championships The United States National Boxing Championships bestow the title of United States Champion on Olympic boxers for winning the annual national Olympic boxing tournament organized by USA Boxing, which is the national governing body for Olympic boxi ...

Lightweight tournament at the

U.S. Olympic Training Center The United States Olympic & Paralympic Training Centers (OPTCs) are two campuses created by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) as training facilities for its Olympic Games, Olympic and Paralympic athletes. They are located i ...

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

. 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 (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at the

by defeating 2008 Olympian Raynell Williams 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 city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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 M ...

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 Amir Imam (born November 5, 1990) is an American professional boxer who challenged once for the WBC super lightweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Profes ...

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, then #3 by the WBC at light welterweight, at the Save Mart Center 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 a Mexican-American professional boxer who challenged for the WBO lightweight title in 2015 and twice for the WBC light welterweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super ...

, 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

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 Boxin ...

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, 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 Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (at ...

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

Ramírez vs. Taylor

On May 22, 2021, Ramírez attempted to become the first undisputed champion of Mexican descent when he faced undefeated unified champion Josh Taylor in

Paradise, Nevada Paradise is an Unincorporated towns in Nevada, unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States, adjacent to the city of Las Vegas. It was formed on December 8, 1950. Its population was 191,238 at the ...

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 (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

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.

Ramírez vs. Barthelemy

Ramírez was scheduled to face Rances Barthelemy on April 27, 2024 at Save Mart Center in Fresno, CA. The outing was his first fight promoted by Golden Boy. Ramírez won the fight by unanimous decision.

Ramírez vs. Barboza Jr

On November 16, 2024, Ramirez faced Arnold Barboza Jr. in a ten-round bout at The Venue Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. Barboza Jr. emerged victorious via unanimous decision, with judges scoring the fight 97-93 and 96-94 twice in his favor.

Ramírez vs. Haney

Ramírez fought Devin Haney in

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...

, New York, on 2 May 2025, and lost by unanimous decision.

Professional boxing record

Personal life

Ramírez is of Mexican descent, his parents are from the state of

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo, is one of the 31 states which, together with Mexico City, compose the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The stat ...

References

External links

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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 Sportspeople from Kings County, California Boxers from California American male boxers American boxers of Mexican descent Olympic boxers for the United States Boxers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers 21st-century American sportsmen