By: Sean Crose
“Looking like @RyanGarcia vs Jose Ramirez is getting close and happening,” Hall of Fame fighter turned promoter Oscar De La Hoya posted to X – formerly known as Twitter – on Wednesday. The 31 year old Ramirez recently signed with Golden Boy Promotions after leaving Top Rank Promotions, which had previously guided his career. The 28-1 Ramirez held the WBO and WBC junior welterweight titles before being bested by Josh Taylor a year and a half ago. Ramirez reportedly passed up a chance to earn millions when he refused to fight former lightweight king turned WBO junior welterweight titlist Teofimo Lopez next month.
De La Hoya’s Wednesday post came across as a bit striking, as the popular Garcia has been paired with numerous potential opponents in the past several weeks. Garcia was said to possibly be fighting the hard hitting and entertaining Rolando Romero. Then he was said to be working on a fight with the brilliant Devin Haney. Then he was said to once again be working to fight Romero. And now it’s Ramirez who looks as if he might be Garcia’s next opponent. “Priced himself out,” De La Hoya posted Wednesday after being asked what became of a supposed Romero fight.
While Garcia has never won a world title, he is an enormously popular fighter. Young, attractive, and media savvy, he has a huge online presence. What’s more, Garcia has the power to take down a wall, which makes him a must see fighter to watch. With that being said, Garcia lost his first major battle when he was stopped within the distance by Gervonta Davis in a legitimate superfight last spring. Still, at 25, the Californian still has room to grow. In truth, aside from the likes of Davis, or Haney, Garcia would most likely enter the ring a favorite against most other opponents.
Although he pretty much still has the power to pick and choose who he wants to face, Garcia has only fought once since losing to Davis. He handily stopped Oscar Duarte last December in eight. As for Ramirez, his last fight was an eleventh round stoppage of Richard Commey last March. Although not known for being a power puncher, Ramirez has still been able to stop eighteen of twenty-nine opponents within the distance. Although he may not be considered a high level opponent, Ramirez is no walk in the park. As a former world titlist, the man knows what it is to fight at a championship level.
