Jesus Ramos Jr. is planning to deliver a breakout performance when he takes on Erickson Lubin as the co-main event attraction for the card headlined by Canelo Alvarez and Jermell Charlo on Sept. 30 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Showtime PPV.
The fast-rising super welterweight upstart Ramos (20-0, 16 KOs) was originally supposed to fight Sergio Garcia on July 30 on the undercard of the event headlined by Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr., but the 23-year-old Arizona native was forced to pull out due to a hand injury.
After a speedy recovery, Ramos is ready to make the leap against the more challenging Lubin (25-2, 18 KOs)
“The [left] hand has healed up. It was nothing major. It was just a matter of taking time off. Once we did that, we were right back. Training camp has been good. There is no pain, and I am blessed to be doing this healthy. I’m excited,” Ramos told BoxingScene.com in an interview.
“The plan is to steal the show. We are both great fighters. We’re both hungry. We might just steal the show if it comes down to it.
“If it goes down to a war, I like a war too. I like to trade and go blow for blow, so we’ll see.”
The five-year pro Ramos has been making a splash over the last 24 months with a quartet of wins against Brian Mendoza, Joseph Spencer, Luke Santamaria, and Vladimir Hernandez.
The 154-pound undisputed champion Charlo currently controls the weight class, but his future in the division is uncertain now that he’s fighting Alvarez at 168 pounds.
Once Charlo steps into the ring to face Alvarez he will be stripped of his WBO title, however, and Tim Tszyu will become the new titleholder thereafter.
Ramos said he wants to challenge for a title at 154 pounds before moving up in weight. He’s currently ranked No. 3 by the IBF, No. 4 by the WBC, No. 5 by the WBO, and No. 6 by the WBA.
“Right now it’s just Lubin, but there are a lot of good names [for me the fight at 154],” Ramos said. “Brian Mendoza is making a name for himself again, Tim Tszyu, Charlo the champion. There’s a lot of good names [at 154 pounds].”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.