Jose Luis Ramirez of Mexico was one tough hombre who accomplished a lot in his 17 years as a professional boxer. His name is not well-known, which is a consequence of his low-key manner of conducting himself in public and his being surrounded by flashier boxers. He was in the mix that included such household names (at least boxing households) as Julio Cesar Chavez, Alexis Arguello, and Hector Camacho.
Ramirez started boxing professionally at 14-years-old in 1973. By 1978, he had amassed a record of 43 wins, 37 inside the distance, against only one 10-round decision loss. It was in 1978 that Ramirez took on legendary Mexican knockout artist Ruben Olvares. Olivares sported a record of 82 wins, with 72 knockouts, against 9 defeats and 1 draw. He became world bantamweight champion in 1969, defending the title twice before losing it on a cut eye in 1970. He regained the title in 1971, defended it twice more before losing it in 1972. He then moved up to featherweight and won the vacant WBC featherweight title in 1974, lost it that same year, regained it and lost it again in 1975. In 1978, Olivarez was clearly not the same fighter he was in his glory years, but he was still a forbidable puncher, and he proved too much for the young Ramirez. Ramirez was stopped in the second round. It would be only one of two times across 111 fights that Ramirez would not finish a fight (the other time was on account of an accidental headbutt against Julio Cesar Chavez, which I address later one).
After the Olivarez fight, Ramirez ran his record to 67-2 by the end of 1980, 58 of those wins coming inside the distance. He picked up the Mexican lightweight title in 1979 and was recognized as one of the best lightweights in the world.
In 1980, he was matched with legendary boxer Alexis Arguello (69-5), former WBA featherweight champion and WBC junior lightweight champion. Ramirez surprised the pro-Arguello crowd by flooring Arguello in the sixth round and outboxing the Nicaraguan throughout. Judge James Kenon had the fight 98-95 Ramirez. However, judge Sam Biller voted for Arguello with a score of 97-94. Referee William Conners had the fight 95-94 Arguello. The length of time the officials huddled before announcing the decision suggested to this observer that perhaps a bit of a fix was involved. In my view, Ramirez won the fight. In any case, Ramirez proved before a world audience that he was among the elite in the lightweight division.
In 1981, Ramirez suffered a disappointing 12-round defeat to lightweight phenom Ray Mancini in a fight to earn a shot at the WBC lightweight title, now held by Arguello. Although he only had 19 bouts under his belt, Mancini's perpetual motion style proved to be a riddle Ramirez couldn't solve. Mancini was unsuccessful in his bid to dethrone Arguello, but he would live up to his promise by winning the WBA lightweight title and successfully defending it four times.
Meanwhile, Ramirez pressed on, winning 11 straight fights, 9 inside the distance, earning a shot in 1983 for the WBC title vacated by Arguello. He was matched with undefeated phenom Edwin Rosario, who had won 20 of his 21 fights by knockout, including an impressive three round destruction of perinneal contender Edwin Viruet. The Ramirez-Rosario contest was a closely fought affair, but in the end the judges saw it for Rosario in a unanimous 2-point decision. Rosario would defend his title twice, with one of those coming against highly touted Howard Davis, Jr (26-1-0), before meeting Ramirez again. Things would be different this time. In the rematch, Ramirez rose from two knockdowns to stop Rosario in the fourth round to win the WBC lightweight title.
Rosario and Ramirez would never unfortunately never matched up against. However, Rosario went on to have an outstanding career. He would beat Frankie Randall (23-0) in a thrilling 10-round match that brought the house down, get robbed in a bout for the WBC lightweight title against Hector Camacho (28-0) in 1986, and then win the WBA lightweight title in 1986 in a two-round demolition of Livington Bramble, the man who twice defeated Ray Mancini. Rosario is credited with forever changing the way Camacho fought, making the man defense consciousness to a fault.
In 1985, Ramirez entered the ring with Hector Camacho (26-0). Camacho, one of the best boxers the ring has ever seen, was at his absolute peak at this point. He proved was too slick for Ramirez and outboxed the Mexican the entire way. So it was that Ramirez lost the WBC title in his first defense of it. However, after two title defenses, Camacho relinquished the title to move to welterweight and Ramirez was selected to fight for the vacant title. He was matched with the capable Terrence Ali (33-4-2) in 1987 and won a 12 round decision. He defended his title successfully against Cornelius Boza-Edwards 45-6-1 on a fifth round knockout.
In 1988, Ramirez was matched with future all-time great welterweight Pernell Whitaker. It was only Whitaker's 16th pro fight, but his progress had been so rapid that his handlers believed he was ready for the match. Ramirez won a split decision. The fight remains a matter of dispute, with many arguing that Whitaker was robbed. In this writer's opinion, Whitaker erred in fighting an almost exclusively defensive fight. After 12 rounds of Ramirez making the fight happen, he was, in my view, entitled to the win. I appreciate defensive boxing. However, boxing is also about fighting and there has to be significant offensive effort or at least impressive counterpunching in order to make a case that a win is warranted. Whitaker did neither.
For his fourth defense, Ramirez was matched with the best lightweight since Roberto Duran, WBA champion Julio Cesar Chavez, who was undefeated in 61 fights, winning most of them by knockout. Chavez had won the WBA title by dominating Rosario in one of the most impressive ring performances in recent memory. The fight was significant in that it would be the first time the titles would be unified since Roberto Duran left the division in the late 1970s. Ramirez gave a terrific accounting of himself. He kept the fight within two points on two of the judges cards. However, in the 11th round an accidental headbutt prevented Ramirez from continuing. Chavez was awarded the victory on a technical win.
Chavez left the lightweight division the following year to fight as a welterweight. Ramirez was rematched with Whitaker for the WBC title in 1989 and, this time, was cleanly outboxed. Whitaker put on a show. Ramirez couldn't get his system into gear and was made to look stuck in the mud. Whitaker had indeed come into his greatness at this point and Ramirez was on the slide. He was 32 years old and had been at the sport for nearly 17 years.
Ramirez would fight one more fight, losing a 12-round decision to welterweight Juan Martin Coggi (43-1-2) by wide margins.
Ramirez started boxing professionally at 14-years-old in 1973. By 1978, he had amassed a record of 43 wins, 37 inside the distance, against only one 10-round decision loss. It was in 1978 that Ramirez took on legendary Mexican knockout artist Ruben Olvares. Olivares sported a record of 82 wins, with 72 knockouts, against 9 defeats and 1 draw. He became world bantamweight champion in 1969, defending the title twice before losing it on a cut eye in 1970. He regained the title in 1971, defended it twice more before losing it in 1972. He then moved up to featherweight and won the vacant WBC featherweight title in 1974, lost it that same year, regained it and lost it again in 1975. In 1978, Olivarez was clearly not the same fighter he was in his glory years, but he was still a forbidable puncher, and he proved too much for the young Ramirez. Ramirez was stopped in the second round. It would be only one of two times across 111 fights that Ramirez would not finish a fight (the other time was on account of an accidental headbutt against Julio Cesar Chavez, which I address later one).
After the Olivarez fight, Ramirez ran his record to 67-2 by the end of 1980, 58 of those wins coming inside the distance. He picked up the Mexican lightweight title in 1979 and was recognized as one of the best lightweights in the world.
In 1980, he was matched with legendary boxer Alexis Arguello (69-5), former WBA featherweight champion and WBC junior lightweight champion. Ramirez surprised the pro-Arguello crowd by flooring Arguello in the sixth round and outboxing the Nicaraguan throughout. Judge James Kenon had the fight 98-95 Ramirez. However, judge Sam Biller voted for Arguello with a score of 97-94. Referee William Conners had the fight 95-94 Arguello. The length of time the officials huddled before announcing the decision suggested to this observer that perhaps a bit of a fix was involved. In my view, Ramirez won the fight. In any case, Ramirez proved before a world audience that he was among the elite in the lightweight division.
In 1981, Ramirez suffered a disappointing 12-round defeat to lightweight phenom Ray Mancini in a fight to earn a shot at the WBC lightweight title, now held by Arguello. Although he only had 19 bouts under his belt, Mancini's perpetual motion style proved to be a riddle Ramirez couldn't solve. Mancini was unsuccessful in his bid to dethrone Arguello, but he would live up to his promise by winning the WBA lightweight title and successfully defending it four times.
Meanwhile, Ramirez pressed on, winning 11 straight fights, 9 inside the distance, earning a shot in 1983 for the WBC title vacated by Arguello. He was matched with undefeated phenom Edwin Rosario, who had won 20 of his 21 fights by knockout, including an impressive three round destruction of perinneal contender Edwin Viruet. The Ramirez-Rosario contest was a closely fought affair, but in the end the judges saw it for Rosario in a unanimous 2-point decision. Rosario would defend his title twice, with one of those coming against highly touted Howard Davis, Jr (26-1-0), before meeting Ramirez again. Things would be different this time. In the rematch, Ramirez rose from two knockdowns to stop Rosario in the fourth round to win the WBC lightweight title.
Rosario and Ramirez would never unfortunately never matched up against. However, Rosario went on to have an outstanding career. He would beat Frankie Randall (23-0) in a thrilling 10-round match that brought the house down, get robbed in a bout for the WBC lightweight title against Hector Camacho (28-0) in 1986, and then win the WBA lightweight title in 1986 in a two-round demolition of Livington Bramble, the man who twice defeated Ray Mancini. Rosario is credited with forever changing the way Camacho fought, making the man defense consciousness to a fault.
In 1985, Ramirez entered the ring with Hector Camacho (26-0). Camacho, one of the best boxers the ring has ever seen, was at his absolute peak at this point. He proved was too slick for Ramirez and outboxed the Mexican the entire way. So it was that Ramirez lost the WBC title in his first defense of it. However, after two title defenses, Camacho relinquished the title to move to welterweight and Ramirez was selected to fight for the vacant title. He was matched with the capable Terrence Ali (33-4-2) in 1987 and won a 12 round decision. He defended his title successfully against Cornelius Boza-Edwards 45-6-1 on a fifth round knockout.
In 1988, Ramirez was matched with future all-time great welterweight Pernell Whitaker. It was only Whitaker's 16th pro fight, but his progress had been so rapid that his handlers believed he was ready for the match. Ramirez won a split decision. The fight remains a matter of dispute, with many arguing that Whitaker was robbed. In this writer's opinion, Whitaker erred in fighting an almost exclusively defensive fight. After 12 rounds of Ramirez making the fight happen, he was, in my view, entitled to the win. I appreciate defensive boxing. However, boxing is also about fighting and there has to be significant offensive effort or at least impressive counterpunching in order to make a case that a win is warranted. Whitaker did neither.
For his fourth defense, Ramirez was matched with the best lightweight since Roberto Duran, WBA champion Julio Cesar Chavez, who was undefeated in 61 fights, winning most of them by knockout. Chavez had won the WBA title by dominating Rosario in one of the most impressive ring performances in recent memory. The fight was significant in that it would be the first time the titles would be unified since Roberto Duran left the division in the late 1970s. Ramirez gave a terrific accounting of himself. He kept the fight within two points on two of the judges cards. However, in the 11th round an accidental headbutt prevented Ramirez from continuing. Chavez was awarded the victory on a technical win.
Chavez left the lightweight division the following year to fight as a welterweight. Ramirez was rematched with Whitaker for the WBC title in 1989 and, this time, was cleanly outboxed. Whitaker put on a show. Ramirez couldn't get his system into gear and was made to look stuck in the mud. Whitaker had indeed come into his greatness at this point and Ramirez was on the slide. He was 32 years old and had been at the sport for nearly 17 years.
Ramirez would fight one more fight, losing a 12-round decision to welterweight Juan Martin Coggi (43-1-2) by wide margins.
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