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Former unified junior welterweight champion Jose Carlos Ramirez 27-1 (17) got back in the win column with a 12-round unanimous points win over Jose ‘Sniper’ Pedraza at the Save Mart Centre in Fresno, California on Friday night.
The 29-year-old established an early lead with his unrelenting pressure, but Puerto Rican Pedraza, 32, rallied in the middle rounds with sharp counters to make the fight close.
It was the first bout for Ramirez in almost 10-months following his close but unanimous decision loss to Josh Taylor almost 10 months ago. In that fight he was adjudicated the loser after being dropped twice to go down by scores of 114-112 across the board.
Scotland’s Taylor claimed all four major world titles at 140-pounds with the victory.
This time around all three judges saw the fight in his favour with a four-point spread. Judges David Sutherland, Steve Weisfeld and Zachary Young all saw the fight the same, 116-112 for the former WBC and WBO junior welterweight champion.
It was a competitive but clear-cut win for Ramirez, who is out to reclaim a slice of the pie at 140-pounds.
“Jose Pedraza is a smart, experienced fighter,” Ramirez said. “He was going to find a way to survive and put up a fight. He was there boxing towards the end of the fight. My hat’s off to him and his team. He was well-prepared. It was a great fight. I got to see where I am right now.
“I was a little tense coming into this fight because of my last fight. Fighting at home, last minute, I got a little more tense than I thought I was going to be. I went out there and just boxed, had fun in there. I played it smart, used my jab, and I think I won more than eight rounds.
“Against anybody at 140… I’m going to go back, work and stay focused and stay active. That’s one thing that’s affected me these last couple of years. I’ve trained so many times for a little bit of fights.
“My inactivity, my discouragement throughout training camps, it really took a big toll on me. I’m ready to stay active and stay motivated. There’s a lot of really great fighters coming up to 140. There’s a lot of really good fighters at 140 right now.”
According to CompuBox, Ramirez landed 31% (91/297) of his power punches while Pedraza landed 23% (89/388) of his. Ramirez doubled up Pedraza in jabs landed 42-21.Ramirez also held a 41 to 18 advantage in body punches landed.
The victory sees Ramirez back in the title hunt at junior welterweight. With undisputed champion Taylor – who looked below par against mandatory contender Jack Catterall last weekend – likely to move up in weight, the WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF belts are all likely to become vacant in the very near future.
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