Undefeated WBC/WBO light welterweight world champion Jose Ramirez was scheduled to fight former champion Viktor Postol in Haikou, China earlier this year on February 1st but the coronavirus outbreak put a halt to the event.
As the virus spread globally and into the USA, many states started taking safety measures and that includes cancelling and forbidding large events from sports to concerts for fear of the illness spreading even more.
Top Rank rescheduled the fight again for May 9th, but those plans could also be sidelined due to the virus and the state of California won’t likely allow sporting events with large audiences to take place anytime soon.
The 27-year-old Ramirez was visiting his trainer Robert Garcia’s gym in Riverside, California and gave an interview to ESNEWS reporter Snow Queen LA about various topics in boxing and the possibility of a dream fight with his former stablemate and training partner Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao.
“I’ll take that fight anytime,” Ramirez told ESNEWS on if the opportunity to fight Manny Paquiao at 147 lbs presented itself. “Obviously for two reasons. One is because he is a champion at 147, and second is because beating a guy like Manny Pacquiao would just elevate me as a fighter. My name international in the boxing world would increase if I was to beat a guy like Manny Pacquiao.”
Ramirez was one of Pacquiao’s chief sparring partners when he used to train under the guidance of Freddie Roach. The Avenal, California product used to travel to the Philippines for Pacquiao’s fight camps and would also spar with him at the Wild Card boxing club in Hollywood, California.
“I sparred Manny Pacquiao so many rounds, I know him and he knows me really, really well,” said Garcia. “His team knows me really good. Actually a while back Bob Arum offered the fight before he left Top Rank and Manny Pacquiao decided to go a different route. He fought someone else because his team said the risk was too high for the reward because I was just a champion and still not the fighter he wants to face, but you know one fight at a time. I’ll make my own destiny. My own history. I’ll fight anybody at 140 and when the time is right I’ll fight anybody at 147.
Having spent many rounds in the ring with Pacquiao and training alongside him, Ramirez revealed what makes the 41-year-old current WBA welterweight champion great.
“His heart, he has tremendous heart,” said Ramirez on what makes Pacquiao so special. “He has that will to go through adversity and he works really, really hard. That guy for his age he doesn’t stop, he doesn’t slow down, he is pushing himself. He has a lot of pride within himself and his country and I think that makes him a stronger fighter because he is fighting for more than himself, and I like that about him and respect that.”
