The city of Fresno, California had been eagerly awaiting for Jose Ramirez to make his first WBC junior welterweight title defense and it got that title defense in a big way.
In the main event of a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card, Ramirez defeated Antonio Orozco by unanimous decision to retain the WBC 140-pound title. Ramirez was comfortably ahead on all three scorecards with identical scores of 119-107, 119-107 and 119-107.
The fight started with an exciting first round that saw both men throw more than 150 combined punches which caused the Save Mart Center to come unglued. Ramirez got the better of most of the exchanges through the first few rounds.
Things started to truly tilt in Ramirez’s favor when he scored a big knockdown in the fourth round with a well-placed right hook. Although Orozco got back up, the challenger took a big uppercut that would have knocked out other fighters, but he still was good to not only continue but trade shots with Ramirez.
Ramirez would continue to dominate the fight and even scored another knockdown in the eighth round thanks to a series of hooks to the body. Once again, Orozco showed tremendous heart and pushed forward and traded punches until the end of the round, giving him another chance to keep fighting past the round.
The WBC champion’s activity in the later rounds did not decrease even as it became evident that he would more than likely end up as the winner in the scorecards. Likewise, Orozco stood up to Ramirez and tried to throw as much as he could up to the final bell.
This was Ramirez’s first title defense after winning the then-vacant belt on an ESPN card from Madison Square Garden back in March. Ramirez was supposed to defend his title earlier this year against Danny O’Connor, but O’Connor was hospitalized the day before the fight and the bout was scrapped.
In the opening fight of the televised card, 18-year-old prospect Gabriel Flores Jr. had the toughest fight of his pro career thus far against Roger Gutierrez. Flores was knocked down by Gutierrez in the first round, though Flores pretty much had the upper hand throughout the fight. Flores emerged victorious with a unanimous decision victory (59-54, 59-54, 58-54).
The co-main event was an extremely one-sided affair as Jamel Herring scored a wide unanimous decision win over John Vincent Moralde to win the vacant USBA super featherweight title (100-90, 100-90, 100-90).
