Josh Taylor vs. Jose Ramirez was a power heavy fight as 279 of the 313 landed punches were power shots. They were within 5 punches landed in 10 of the 12 rounds.
Virgin Hotels, Las Vegas – In a full division unification for the WBC, WBA, IBF, WBO junior welterweight titles, Josh Taylor (18-0, 13 KOs) won a twelve round unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Jose Ramirez (26-1, 17 KOs).
All three judges scored the contest 114-112.
The first round was close with both boxers picking their punches well. Taylor’s hand speed was on display in the second as he was landing well on Ramirez, who wasn’t throwing that many punches until the final thirty seconds when he let his hangs go to make it a fight.
They were trading on the inside in the third. Ramirez was unloading with pinches on Taylor, who was covering up. Taylor then put his punches together and fired back, Ramirez came roaring back with shots of his own.
Both had moments of success in the fourth, with both doing damage. A cut opened up around the left eye of Taylor in the fifth. They were trading on the inside, with Ramirez placing in the better punches.
At the start of the sixth round, a hard counter hook dropped Ramirez. But it was Ramirez who started firing shots once the action restarted when he got to his feet. Taylor was being calculated and picking his punches from the distance. In the seventh, Taylor was landing more often and showing good defense. In the final minute, a big uppercut dropped Ramirez for a second time. This time Ramirez was wobbly and hurt, but managed to last the final seconds of the round.
Taylor controlled most of the eight and was landing solid punches on Ramirez. In the ninth, it was close as the pace slowed down. Ramirez was pressing to the body in the tenth, pushing Taylor back. Taylor was targeting him with big shots that were landing off the jab.
Ramirez was landing his jab at the start of the eleventh. Taylor was landing good punches as Ramirez would charge in. Ramirez unloaded with a lot of punches in the final minute. A slow start in the twelfth, with Taylor hanging back and looking for counters. Both were looking for key punches for most of the rounds, with Taylor landing more of them.