Jose Ramirez is set to make his return to the ring against Rances Barthelemy on Saturday, April 27 as he looks to get himself back into world title reckoning on his Golden Boy debut, having parted ways with longtime promoter Top Rank.
Former WBC and WBO light welterweight champion Ramirez lost his titles when defeated by Josh Taylor in a unification fight in 2021 - the only blemish on his professional record so far - and has been on the comeback trail since, recording wins over Jose Pedraza and Richard Commey.
Barthelemy is his next opponent in what will be Ramirez’ third successive fight at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California, in what should be a real test of his credentials. The veteran Cuban is a former two-weight world champion, although he did lose his last title fight to Kiryl Relikh by a unanimous decision verdict in 2018.
That defeat was the first of Barthelemy's career but after winning three and drawing one of his next four fights, he suffered the second in a stoppage defeat to Gary Antuanne Russell in 2022.
The 37-year-old bounced back with a majority decision win in his most recent fight, defeating Omar Juarez in May 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Fighter Bio | Jose Ramirez | Rances Barthelemy |
Odds: | TBD | TBD |
Age: | 31 | 37 |
Nickname: | Jaguar | Kid Blast |
Height: | 5’ 10” | 5’ 10” |
Reach: | 72.5” | 72” |
Weight: | Super Lightweight | Super Lightweight |
Trainer: | Robert Garcia | Orlando Cuellar |
Record: | 28-1 (18 KOs) | 30-2-1 (1NC) (15 KOs) |
Last Fight: | Win against Richard Commey (March 26th, 2023) | Win against Omar Juarez (May 13th, 2023) |
After an impressive amateur career saw him represent the US at the Summer Olympics in London - his bid for a medal ended by Fazliddin Hasanbaevich who would go on to win gold in 2016 - Ramirez turned professional in 2012 and quickly established his knockout power with a first-round stoppage of Corey Seigwarth.
That result was something of a theme in Ramirez's early fights as he followed up with similarly early stoppages of Charlie Dubray, Christopher Williams, Mike Maldonado, Erick Hernandez Perez and Javier Perez, with only Antonio Martinez and Daniel Calzada able to take their fights to the judges' scorecards in Ramirez's first eight contests.
Although not quite as quickly, seven of his next eight fights did not go the distance as Ramirez made his way up the ranks, and he won the WBC Continental Americas light welterweight title with a unanimous decision victory over Johnny Garcia in what was his first fight at Fresno's Save Mart Arena, the venue for his upcoming bout with Barthelemy.
Ramirez would go on to successfully defend that title four times, three by knockout, before he successfully took his first shot at a world title, defeating Amir Imam by unanimous decision on March 17, 2018 to claim the vacant WBC light welterweight strap.
'Jaguar' was back at the Save Mart Center for the defence of his title, eventually earning a unanimous decision over Antonio Orozco despite knocking his opponent to the canvas twice, before he was pushed all the way in his second defence by Jose Zepeda at the same venue, seeing his arm raised after a majority decision verdict.
The then-undefeated WBO light welterweight champion Maurice Hooker was next up in a unification bout in Arlington, Texas, with Ramirez's power an eventual deciding factor in a sixth-round stoppage win.
Ramirez came through another stern examination when he successfully saw off Viktor Postol, with the judges narrowly siding in his favour by majority decision with scores of 116-112, 115-113 and 114-114.
The chance of undisputed glory came against Josh Taylor in May 2021, but Jaguar was knocked down in both the sixth and seventh rounds as the Tartan Tornado claimed victory by unanimous decision, ending Ramirez’ 26-fight unbeaten start to his career.
The now-31-year-old has fought twice since that setback, recording another unanimous decision win to defeat former two-weight world champion Jose Pedraza in March 2022, before he stopped former IBF lightweight king Robert Commey in the 11th round in March last year.
Strengths | Weaknesses |
Devastating power in both hands | Can leave himself open |
Stamina and conditioning | Come-forward style offers clean hits |
High volume of punches |
Rances Barthelemy enjoyed a stellar amateur career in his native Cuba before moving to the US, starting life in the professional ranks with a 14-second stoppage of Jamal Clay on August 8, 2009, which was followed up by another first-round KO of Vineash Rungea just 20 days later. Andrew Barnes was also stopped in the opening round in October of the same year.
'Kid Blast' won all six of his bouts in a busy 2010 before he overcame Gerardo Robles on the judges' scorecards to claim the vacant UBO International lightweight title in his fourth fight of 2011, defending that title two fights later with a unanimous decision victory over Hylon Williams in February 2012.
Barthelemy needed the judges again to extend his record to 18-0 before he knocked out Fahsai Sakkreerin in the second round in June 2013 to earn a shot at the IBF junior lightweight title, a chance he seemingly took when he knocked out Argenis Mendez, again in the second round, to claim the belt on January 3, 2014. However, an appeal was filed by Mendez and his team with the knockout blow coming after the bell to end the second round.
That appeal was eventually upheld with the original fight ultimately ruled a no contest, but Barthelemy did get his hands on the belt with a UD verdict over Mendez in July later that year.
After beating both Angino Perez and Antonio DeMarco, Barthelemy then claimed the IBF lightweight title with another unanimous verdict over Denis Shafikov, defending that strap with a split decision win over Mickey Bey in June 2016.
Controversy followed the Cuban's next win which came via the judges and despite being awarded the victory over Kiryl Relikh in May 2017, the WBA ordered a rematch. The Belarusian exacted his revenge to inflict a first pro defeat on Barthelemy, claiming the WBA super lightweight title in the process.
'Kid Blast' took on Robert Easter Jr for the vacant WBA interim super lightweight title in April 2019 but did not do enough to force the win, although a split-draw decision ultimately left both boxers empty handed.
After successive wins over All Rivera and Gustavo David Vittori in 2021, Barthelemy suffered his second career defeat when stopped by Gary Antuanne Russell in the sixth round in New York in July 2022, although he bounced back last year with a majority-decision win over Omar Juarez.
Strengths | Weaknesses |
Technical brilliance | Lacks punching power |
Defensive mastery | Can struggle against relentless pressure |
Skilled counterpuncher |
This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.