Third Times The Charm: Jose Ramirez-Viktor Postol Officially Rebooked
After months of waiting between matchups, Top Rank will be looking to produce a big Junior-Welterweight Title fight under the bright lights of Las Vegas.
The promotion recently announced that Jose Ramirez will defend his WBC and WBO Junior-Welterweight Titles against Viktor Postol on August 29. Securing the date not long ago, the promotion was waiting to see if everything could go according to plan.
“Jose has stayed in the gym with his great trainer, Robert Garcia, throughout the pandemic,” said Top Rank’s Bob Arum. “I have no doubt we will see the best version of Jose Ramirez, a wonderful young man and one of the world’s best fighters. He will need to be on his game because Postol is a worthy contender who has proven himself at the world-class level.”
Ramirez (25-0) is coming off of a TKO-win over Maurice Hooker back in July 2019. He won the WBO Junior-Welterweight Title to go along with his WBC belt. The 27-year-old won the vacant WBC belt back in 2018, beating Amir Iman. While he has been waiting to fight, Ramirez has been helping out his community, which has been affected by COVID-19.
“I’m excited to finally be back. It’s always an honor stepping into the ring, fighting a guy like Postol and defending my belts,” Ramirez said. “God knows that my goal is to become the undisputed champion, and this gets me one step closer to my goal.”
Postol (31-2) is coming off of a unanimous decision win over Mohamed Mimoune back in April 2019 to become the mandatory challenger. He is on a two-fight win streak following a 1-2 record from 2016 to the middle of 2018.
“I’m just looking forward to fighting. I’m coming to win those world titles,” Postol stated. “I have been training since this fight was first announced, so I’m focused and ready to go.”
The two were supposed to fight in China earlier in the year, but the bout was postponed due to the coronavirus heavily affecting the area. They were then booked for May in California, but it was once again postponed due to the pandemic growing in America.
The co-main event will feature Arnold Barboza Jr. v. Tony Luis. Barboza (23-0) made his debut in 2013. He fought three times in 2019, his last bout a knockout win against William Silva in November. Luis (29-3) fought three times in 2019. He last fought in October, beating Ricardo Lama via unanimous decision. The 32-year-old hasn’t lost a fight since 2015.
Inside the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas, the main card action will begin at 10 p.m. ET. Undercard action is at 7:30 p.m. ET.