After Jose Ramirez?s planned July 7 fight against Danny O?Connor was called off, plans quickly shifted to have the 140-pound world champion fight on one of the biggest boxing weekends of the year.
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum said Ramirez will fight on September 14 on a Top Rank card with no venue announced against an opponent to be named later. September 14 is the day before Gennady Golovkin faces off against Canelo Alvarez on an HBO pay-per-view fight in Las Vegas.
Ramirez was supposed to defend his WBC junior welterweight title against O?Connor in the main event of a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card in Fresno, California, but the fight got called off during weigh-ins the day before due to O?Connor being hospitalized earlier in the day. O?Connor was hospitalized after suffering severe dehydration as a result of his weight cut. The fight got scrapped, but the card remained with a new main event. The new main event saw Egidijus Kavaliauskas defeat Juan Carlos Abreu by unanimous decision to retain the NABF welterweight title.
The fight was going to be Ramirez?s first title defense since winning the belt back in March. Ramirez defeated Amir Imam at a Top Rank Boxing card at Madison Square Garden to win the title that was vacated by former undisputed champion Terence Crawford in his move up in weight.