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0 Jose Ramirez and Richard Commey are both former world champions, both all-action in style and both determined to return to the top level of the sport.
But only one of them can.
That will be decided when they fight at the Save Mart Arena in Fresno, live on Sky Sports in the early hours of Sunday morning.
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Sky Sports viewers can look forward to three weekends of Top Rank Boxing live from the USA in the run up to Easter starting with Jose Ramirez v Richard Commey on March 26
“He’s experienced,” Ramirez told Sky Sports. “He’s coming in very motivated. That’s motivates me too.
“What motivates me so much is the excitement that I bring to boxing fans. They love my style of boxing. They love boxers like myself who respect the sport, who respect everything about the sport, who go out there and definitely show all the skills and they leave all their heart inside that ring.
“World titles, legacy, I feel like there’s so much that I have yet to do in the sport and I want to do in the sport. Those goals that I have for myself are part of my motivation every day.”
Ghana’s Commey knows that at this stage of his career defeat to Ramirez would end his ambitions of returning to title class.
“It’s all about winning this fight,” he said. “I’m going to give my all and this fight really means a lot. It means a lot for me, I’ve got to go in there and do what I’ve got to do.”
After losing his IBF lightweight title to Teofimo Lopez, Commey also went the distance with the great Vasiliy Lomachenko.
For either man defeat tonight would be disastrous (Photos: Mikey Williams/Top Rank)
He subsequently moved up to 140lbs, but still took a tough fight there, drawing with Jose Pedraza.
“I thought I should have won that fight. I thought I got it. It is what it is. Things happen for a reason,” he said.
Commey believes those experiences have still made him a better fighter.
“Loma, his footwork is very great,” Commey said. “He moves in a way you don’t expect him to do so he kind of makes it a little bit difficult.
“I should have done much better [but] he’s good.”
Now Teofimo Lopez has moved up to 140lbs too, Commey would relish a rematch.
“If I had the chance to fight with him again, I would,” he said. “I could have done much more than that.
“We’re both at 140lbs and it’s going to be something else, it’s going to be great.”
Ramirez similarly has a defeat in his past that he wants to avenge. He lost his unified WBC and WBO lightweight belts to Josh Taylor in their undisputed championship fight in 2021.
“There was a few small mistakes that I made in the middle of the fight, in the sixth and seventh round, that I felt cost me the fight,” Ramirez told Sky Sports.
Jose Ramirez believes he would beat Josh Taylor in a rematch
Taylor knocked him down in those rounds. But Ramirez is adamant: “The better man that day won, not necessarily the better overall fighter.”
He said: “If I hadn’t made the mistake to show so much respect to him and the referee I feel like I wouldn’t have got caught with that uppercut. It wasn’t just that round that I lost, it took me about two rounds to get my legs under me and it also motivated him to get his second wind.”
To get his second chance with Taylor, Ramirez will seek to become the mandatory challenger for the WBO title the Scotsman holds.
“In the first five rounds I was starting to take him to the ropes, I was showing my physical strength,” Ramirez said. “I could see by his body language that I was breaking him down.
“I’m that beast that goes out there and is very determined to win,” he continued. “That fight in the near future will probably happen.”
That’s one of the reasons why, in front of his hometown fans in a packed arena tonight, Ramirez needs to win.
Both men, as Commey says, have to give their all.
Don’t miss a big night of action live on Sky Sports on Saturday night. Lawrence Okolie vs David Light will be followed by Jose Ramirez vs Richard Commey
