Jose Ramirez and Viktor Postol fight Saturday at the MGM Grand Conference Center for the WBC and WBO light welterweight titles.
Jose Ramirez enters this fight with a 25-0 record that includes 17 knockouts. This will be Ramirez’s third fight since 2019, and he’s coming off a July (2019) win over Maurice Hooker. Ramirez is coming off one of the bigger wins of his career, as he dominated Hooker from start to finish, knocking him down in round one and eventually getting the knockout in round six. It was the third straight title defense for Ramirez and his first knockout victory since 2017 against Mike Reed. Ramirez is a 28-year-old American who stands at 5’10”, has a 72-inch reach and an orthodox stance. Ramirez has a brawler feel to his game, as he stands in the pocket and throws heavy, heavy shots out the gate and can drop an opponent with one punch. Ramirez has good footwork, quick hands and is relentless once he cuts off the ring and gets his opponent against the ropes. Ramirez wastes no time letting his hands go with powerful combinations, and he loves working the body and has ended a lot of previous bouts due to shots to the midsection. Ramirez has also improved his head movement over the years and tends to fight in a lower stance, making him much more polished defensively. This will be Ramirez’s eighth career fight in Nevada.
Viktor Postol enters this fight with a 31-2 record that includes 12 knockouts. Postol has won six of his last eight fights, and he’s coming off an April (2019) win over Mohamed Mimoune. Postol has put together back-to-back decision wins since his 2018 loss to Josh Taylor and is fighting with belts on the line for the fourth time in his last seven bouts. Postol is a 36-year-old Ukrainian who stands at 5’11”, has a 73-inch reach and an orthodox stance. Postol is able to take advantage of his length, as he does a great job of fighting from a distance and making it uncomfortable for his opponent to find a rhythm. Postol works well behind his jab, is highly accurate with his punches and has a mean uppercut that has to be respected. Postol rarely puts himself in danger defensively and has proven he has a respectable chin given that he’s never been stopped despite two losses and being knocked down a few times in his career. Postol doesn’t have the athleticism or the punching power that’s going to overwhelm opponents, but his fundamentals and punching accuracy makes him one of the best boxers regardless of division coming out of Ukraine. This will be Postol’s third career fight in Nevada.
Postol can never be counted out, as he’s lengthy, technical, accurate and has been in the ring with some impressive names that provides valuable experience. The issue is that Postol is also the slower fighter with limited athleticism and doesn’t have the power to really scare Ramirez. Postol has also been dropped many times in his career, most recently in bouts against Taylor, Jamshidbek Najmitdinov and Terence Crawford, so that’s a major concern when going up against somebody who throws hard and fast. This could be the first time Postol is stopped in the ring.
Give me Ramirez by knockout to shave down an expensive ML price.