Jose Ramirez admits he is not taking any notice of the pre-fight odds and believes he will rise to the occasion against fellow undefeated world champion, Josh Taylor on Saturday.
WBC and WBO champion, Ramirez clashes with WBA ‘Super’ and IBF titlist, Taylor for the undisputed Super Lightweight championship at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, live on ESPN in the USA and FITE TV in the UK.
Taylor is the bookies favourite to become the first undisputed 140lbs champion since Terence Crawford achieved the feat after stopping Julius Indongo in 2017, however the Californian says he will find a way to succeed and believes the Scot will bring the best version out of him.
“I’m not really sure [why people are picking against me],” Ramirez said on a Zoom media conference call on Tuesday.
“I’ve never been a big fan of opinions such as who’s the best out there, who’s the better fighter been one or the other.
“When you look back at when boxing was more alive in the ’60’s, everybody faced each other and one would beat the other guy and the other guy would beat the other guy and they were all winning against each other and sometimes a certain style was more complicated than the other.
“In boxing I feel like people have forgotten that, they don’t understand that in this sport, especially in this level of competition, every fight is going to be tough, so I always train like the underdog, I always train like this is the most important fight and I cannot afford to lose.
“So, I have that mentality in me that I cannot afford to lose and I’ll find a way to win and I’m very composed.
“Again I’m not paying attention too much to that, never have and I’m going out there hoping to bring the best out of me and hoping to show my skills the best way I can.
“I’m just a very determined fighter and I feel like a great fighter like Josh Taylor will bring the best out of Jose Ramirez.
“I’m very well prepared, I’m very confident within my skills, I’m a man of faith and I’m going to push myself and I’ll find a way to win on Saturday.”
Ramirez proudly representing Mexican heritage
The 28-year-old claimed a majority decision win over Viktor Postol in August, having unified his world titles against Maurice Hooker in July 2019.
Taylor, who stopped IBF mandatory challenger, Apinun Khongsong inside a round in September has spoken of his desire to emulate his hero and countryman, Ken Buchanan who was undisputed Lightweight champion, however ‘The Tartan Tornado’ would become the first Brit to become undisputed champion in the four-belt era.
Whilst Ramirez says the potential of becoming the first fighter of Mexican descent to hold all the belts is key in his motivation to win on Saturday.
“This is a fight that’s going to bring a lot of glory to myself, to my family,” Ramirez added.
“It’s going to make me the first Mexican fighter, of Mexican descent, Mexican-American fighter to become undisputed world champion in the history of boxing.
“So this is a historical fight for me as well. This can open up doors for the Hall of Fame for me in the future.
“This is something that will put me in the books as one of the best to ever put on boxing gloves.
“This is a big fight for me and it’s a fight that not only brings glory to the Mexican people in Mexico, but also to all the hardworking immigrants in the United States, as I’m a proud immigrant myself.”
