Ramirez will fight Antonio Orozco on ESPN, a day before the biggest fight of the year – the highly-anticipated rematch between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin.
The 26-year-old Ramirez (22-0, 16 knockouts) recently moved to Riverside, California to be closer to trainer Robert Garcia, who trains him out of his gym in Oxnard. Prior to that, Ramirez lived in Hollywood for a couple of years, but his heart has always been in the Central Valley and his hometown of Avenal, a small town outside of Fresno.
Ramirez’s profile has grown steadfastly over the last few years, but he’s never forgotten where he came from. Though he lives in Riverside, he goes back to the Central Valley on a near alternating-week basis. He may be famous, but he’s never carried himself as anything but humble.
Ramirez drives a 2019 Dodge Ram, he doesn’t wear fancy jewelry. He’s still a simple Central Valley guy at heart.
“They know I’m doing good things and the people from my home say, ‘You know, he’s not any different than us,” Ramirez said. “If I bought a $100,000 car, one of those BMWs that has all the crazy features, I’d get more attention. But would I be liked more? Behind the scenes, am I going to be liked? Am I going to be respected? Most people get mobbed for the luxury stuff and lifestyle, but it doesn’t mean they’re respected.”
Rick Mirigian has worked with Jose Ramirez since before he made the 2012 Olympic team. Mirigian negotiated a deal to co-promote Ramirez alongside boxing juggernaut Top Rank. Bob Arum’s willingness to work with Mirigian is what prompted him to choose their company over Golden Boy Promotions, which didn’t want to cede any decision-making to Mirigian.
Mirigian tells a story of how he asked Ramirez what he wanted to use his platform for as a local celebrity. The two were driving down local route-99, the north-south highway that runs through the mostly desolate part of Central Valley that’s been hit worst by the drought. Ramirez pointed out the window.
“There’s nothing out there,” Mirigian said. “Why are you pointing there?”
“That’s what I want to do,” Ramirez answered.
He explained how his father did not work when the fields were dry and the family didn’t make any money. As a kid, Ramirez worked in the fields as well. Mirigian took that to heart and went to work on how he could incorporate it.
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Mirigian negotiated within the Top Rank contract a deal to promote Ramirez at home in Fresno twice a year. Mirigian went and found the California Latino Water Coalition – the largest water organization in California 40 minutes outside of Fresno. They made national news for walking 100 miles, about 20,000 of them.
The CLWC worked with Mirigian and put on the Fight for Water, selling out the 3,100 floor seats of the West Hills College Golden Eagle Arena in Lemoore in May 2014 for a card televised on UniMas.
Most of those UniMas shows in the U.S. struggled to sell, but Ramirez and Mirigian proved to be an effective team. They then moved to Fresno’s Selland Arena, selling out the 9,000-capacity arena a total of four times. Altogether, they’ve sold out eight Fight for Water shows.
The support from the farming community has been overwhelming. Even the wealthy farmers have taken a liking to Ramirez, with one of them even letting him use his private plane to travel between Fresno and southern California when he has needed to. When Ramirez’s grandfather passed away a few weeks ago, one of the farmers flew him to Mexico, so he could be with his family.
Ramirez must get past Orozco, a tough Mexican fighter who is 27-0 (17 KOs). It will be an opportunity for Ramirez to show he belongs on the big stage. Orozco’s come-forward style promises to deliver a crowd-pleasing fight. If Ramirez passes this test, the sky is the limit.
“Antonio is a very active fighter in the ring,” Ramirez said of his opponent. “He’s a pressure fighter like myself and I’m more than excited to be facing fighters like him. I consider Antonio to be one of the very best in the division.”
Top Rank reached a new seven-year deal with ESPN in August that calls for 54 live boxing events annually to air on their flagship network or ESPN+. The timing couldn’t be better for Ramirez. He’s become a bona fide attraction in Fresno and could be one of the fighters spotlighted alongside the likes of Terence Crawford and Vasyl Lomachenko – two boxers with bigger pedigree, but comparable followings.
His first hometown title defense was supposed to take place in July, but his opponent, Danny O’Connor, was hospitalized trying to make weight. Ramirez’s title homecoming was only delayed a couple of months, but now he faces a stiffer challenge.
Orozco himself has dealt with problems making weight in the past. Thus, Top Rank has put a couple of other junior welterweights, Hiroki Okada and Bryan Vasquez, on the card just for the worst-case scenario, where one of them has to be bumped into the main event.
Should Ramirez win, the 140-pound division would be piping hot. Top Rank promotes Alex Saucedo, who will fight Maurice Hooker for a title and could be a future Ramirez opponent.
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Regis Prograis is the favorite to win the World Boxing Super Series junior welterweight tournament and Top Rank and Prograis promoter, Lou DiBella, foresee a potential clash down the line between the two as well.
But for now, all the soft-spoken Ramirez is concerened with is letting his fists talk Friday night.
