The former unified junior welterweight world champion, Jose Ramirez faces Richard Commey on Saturday, March 25, at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California, live on ESPN, and views this bout as a prelude to bigger fights in the future. Ramirez, a local ticket draw, who hopes to put 15,000 people in the stands by Saturday, as he goes head-to-head with a massive Showtime PPV of David Benavidez vs. Caleb Plant is business as usual.
Instead of a traditional media day, it was spent based around giving back. Despite being so close to the fight, Ramirez seems to feed off inspiring the youth, as covering the champion for nearly eight years now, it appears that Ramirez is most in his element when interacting with the less fortunate and speaking to inspire them to dream big. Something that on a global stage, just doesn’t seem to carry the gravity of how beloved Ramirez is in the Fresno area.
Ramirez’s influence is profound in the area. When walking the streets around the boys and girls club, you can find murals, and fight posters within mere blocks. As he was being interviewed multiple groups of children who attended the boys and girls club came up to him spoke to him, and told him how he was a hero to them. It is no wonder that Ramirez is returning back home to get a bit of the energy he might need for his future endeavors on the road as he attempts to become a two-time world champion.
“We are all humans, and we all come across that adversity within ourselves,” said Ramirez when speaking to reporters after the charity event. “It has nothing to do with the sport of boxing, [it just had to do with finding myself] again, and reminding myself what got us here in the first place, and I think that was very important for me to focus on. Which I did, I found it, and Jose Ramirez is back.”
Ramirez, who did the entire media event with his son, Matteo, by his side, appears to be back to the Ramirez from his world title run. From his demeanor to his attitude, Ramirez felt like the man from prior to the Mike Reed fight as he spoke with conviction behind every word he spoke. Now we just have to see how he performs come fight night against a game opponent in Richard Commey.
“This is a great fight for me [against] Richard Commey,” said Ramirez about his upcoming fight with the New York fighter, Commey. “I think [this] is a good fight for boxing and will be very entertaining. I am very confident within myself, and I know what I have done [at the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy] to prepare myself for this day…Trust me, man - I am focused.”
