For a number of hardcore fight fans, the May 22 battle between rival 140-pound champions Josh Taylor and Jose Ramirez is THE fight to look forward to here in 2021. Yes, we will (hopefully) have the big heavyweight clash between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua (maybe two fights) this year, we will have perhaps two more Canelo Alvarez fights this year, and we will have some big fights featuring the likes of Teofimo Lopez, Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney and a number of other young and exciting emerging fighters. But for many, that 140-pound unification showdown will be the one to see.
Both Taylor, the WBA and IBF champion, and Ramirez, the WBC and WBO ruler, are unbeaten, 17-0 with 13 KOs for Taylor, 26-0(17) for Ramirez, and both men are utterly convinced they will win the fight set for Las Vegas in May. Taylor is aiming to make boxing history as the first-ever British fighter to win four major belts. We’ve seen a number of excellent British fighters unify titles over the years, yet never has a British boxer held four belts at one time. Taylor, as he explained when speaking with METRO, wants to change that.
“I feel like I am coming into my prime and everything happens for a reason. The time is now for me and I want to put on a very strong performance,” 30 year old Taylor said of the fast-approaching Ramirez fight. “I’ve got that bit between my teeth now and something to focus on. I want to be the first boxer from the UK to be a four-belt world champion. I want to leave a legacy as one of the greats of British boxing. The undisputed world champion is what I want.”
If Taylor – who has thrilled us with brilliant displays against fine fighters, Regis Prograis (this one of the best fights of 2019 and to date Taylor’s biggest win and best performance), Miguel Vazquez (Taylor being one of just two men to have ever stopped the 62-fight veteran from Mexico) and Ivan Baranchyk – can beat Ramirez, he will indeed have pulled off a great British “away win.” Taylor says he has always dreamed of fighting a big fight in Las Vegas and now he has it. It cannot be overstated, though, how tough a fight this is – for both men. A genuine 50-50 fight, Taylor and Ramirez can be expected to each bring greatness out of each other. Taylor says that after he wins, he will make the move up to welterweight, where he aims to win even more world titles.
“Once I win this fight, there’s not much else to do at the weight so the natural progression for me is to move up to 147 pounds and try to become world champion there and really cement a legacy for myself in the sport as a two-weight world titleholder,” Taylor said.
But it just might be that Taylor and Ramirez put on such a great fight, such a close fight, that the demand for them to do it again will be big. We might even see the birth of the next great lower-weight trilogy on May 22. Plenty of us cannot wait for May 22 to roll around.
