Jose Ramirez Not In Favor Of Regis Prograis 140-lb Title Challenge
Regis Prograis recently won the vacant super lightweight title.
Former unified light welterweight champion Jose Ramirez (27-1, 17 KOs) has rejected the title challenge against WBC super lightweight champion Regis Prograis (28-1, 14 KOs).
According to the reports from ESPN, the American is dissatisfied with the 65-35 purse split that he would get after the fight.
Ramirez wanted the purse split ratio to be 50-50 as the challenger. However, he is optimistic that he will make the fight happen against Prograis in the future.
The 30-year-old lost to Josh Taylor last year after narrowly surviving the challenge of Viktor Postol in 2020. Before that, he won a highly controversial match against Jose Zepeda.
On social media, many fans consider it to be a full-time duck on Ramirez’s part for turning down the title challenge. Rather than fighting Prograis, he could lock horns against former IBF lightweight champion Richard Commey.
“I’m disappointed in that split,” Ramirez said to ESPN. “This fight should definitely be a 50-50 [split], and I was OK on taking 10% less, but I can’t be fighting for free and risk too much of a pay cut. Boxing is a tough sport, and we want to make sure we get valued.
“This is a huge fight [vs. Prograis] that is not being promoted properly. Hopefully, we can make the fight happen in the future when we both get compensated as we should.”