Ramirez to Face Orozco September 14th

Ramirez will return against Orozco September 14th

Los Angeles (July 11, 2018)- Although no official announcement has been made, Jose Ramirez (22-0 16KO’s) looks set to face Antonio Orozco (27-0 17KO’s) on September 14th in his hometown of Fresno, CA.

Ramirez was scheduled to face Danny O’Connor July 7th, but the fight was cancelled after O’Connor was hospitalized for severe dehydration attempting to make weight. Ramirez made the 140lb limit but was unable to secure a last minute opponent to debut under new trainer Robert Garcia.

For Orozco, erasing doubts and failed opportunities from missing weight on two occasions in the past is high on his priority list. “I’m in shape, I was preparing to fight Cano (Pablo Cano) in August. I’m taking this very seriously.” Orozco told me over the phone last night after the news broke on twitter. Facing and defeating quality opponents like Humberto Soto, Emmanuel Taylor, and Steve Forbes; Orozco has a major edge in experience over Ramirez.

Prior to facing Amir Imam in a WBC title eliminator, whom many had written off after being knocked out by Adrian Granados; Ramirez’s only opponent of note was Top Rank prospect Mike Reed, who subsequently lost to prospect Arnold Barboza Jr.

Orozco will be walking into hostile territory in Ramirez’s hometown of Fresno but has already fought under the bright lights of HBO when he defeated Humberto Soto in a tactical toe-to-toe fight that was to be his contenders test. Orozco’s manager Frank Espinoza said “I like the fight, I’ve been working on it a few days” confirming that work is being done to solidify the matchup.

With a projected date of September 14th, Top Rank is clearly trying to ride the wave of boxing popularity during the Mexican Independence Day weekend. With Golden Boy holding fights in Las Vegas on the 14th and Canelo vs. Golovkin taking place on the 15th.

No annonucement has been made on whether the fight will be on the ESPN network or the ESPN+ app.