JOSH Taylor will add his name to the list of British boxing’s greatest champions by becoming undisputed unified light-welterweight champion of the world in Las Vegas this weekend.
‘The Tartan Tornado’ defends his WBA, IBF and Ring magazine belts against WBC and WBO champion Jose Ramirez in a fight that’s got the industry salivating: Two world champions, both undefeated, for all the marbles.
It took just five years for Edinburgh-born Taylor to ascend boxing’s 10-stone summit. In just 17 professional fights he’s racked up a murderer’s row of defeated opposition, a campaign that stands up against any other champion in the sport today.
After 10 quick wins in his first three years, Edinburgh’s finest advanced onto the international stage to vanquish four past or present world champions amongst seven opponents with a combined record of 179 wins and just 9 losses!
In a sport so often stained by walkover fights with handpicked opponents, 30-year-old Taylor’s matchmaking – orchestrated by former manager-trainer combo Barry and Shane McGuigan – was a prerequisite to his emergence as not just a champion but a truly world class champion at that.
Now MTK-managed and with Ben Davison marshalling his corner, the coach who most famously brought Tyson Fury back from the brink, Taylor has already answered every question that can be asked in the ring thanks to his formidable education. Yet the same cannot quite be said of his opponent.
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After representing Team USA at the London Olympics in 2012, Ramirez turned pro before the end of the year and racked up 21 wins with 16 stoppages before claiming the vacant WBC super-lightweight belt in 2018.
The 28-year-old Californian has defended that crown successfully four times now, whilst also adding the WBO belt in his best performance to date when stopping Mo Hooker in six rounds in 2019.
Last August, in his only outing during the Covid lockdown, Ramirez successfully defended both titles with a hard-fought majority decision (one judge scored it draw) over former champion Viktor Postol. The same Postol who Taylor sliced and diced whilst powering to a one-sided title defence of his own in Glasgow two years earlier.
Ramirez is well schooled, has a terrific jab and, like all fighters of Mexican decent, comes alive on the inside, throwing bombs to the body and overwhelming foes with his workrate. But he can also be outboxed on the outside; Jose Zepeda, like Postol, had plenty of success against Ramirez and dominated the first half of their fight before running out of gas.
Taylor’s gas tank isn’t in question though, and neither is his own ability to mix it up close if the fight calls for it. Strong, intelligent and with genuine power underlined by his 76% finish rate, the Scotsman starts as favourite for a reason.
Having not tasted defeat since his trip to London almost a decade ago, Ramirez doesn’t know how to quit and this fight should be one of the very best this year. But as the rounds tick by and the judges scorecards increasingly favour Taylor, expect the Mexican-American’s frustrations to manifest into mistakes leading to a spectacular late finish for the Brit.
TIP: Taylor KO Rounds 10-12
