Jose Ramirez ready to end layoff, defend titles against Viktor Postol

Unified junior welterweight champion Jose Ramirez had waited seven months to defend his WBO and WBC championships.

Then he waited three more.

Then three more.

“I stayed in the gym. I stayed composed. I stayed patient,” Ramirez said Thursday. “I’m a man of faith. I believe everything happens for a reason. And now that I’m here, I can’t wait to showcase my talent.”

Ramirez (25-0, 17 knockouts) will finally end his 13-month layoff to defend his WBO and WBC junior welterweight championships Saturday against Viktor Postol (31-2, 12 KOs) inside Top Rank’s bubble at MGM Grand. The fight was supposed to happen in China in Februrary, then in Los Angeles in May — but was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I know its been 13 months since I last stepped in the ring, but it felt like it was yesterday because I’ve been in the gym for the last year with this fight on my mind the whole time,” Ramirez said. “You can say it’s been a long training camp.”

Ramirez, now 28, represented the United States at the 2012 Olympics in London and signed a promotional contract with Top Rank afterward. He breezed through his first 21 fights to score a showdown with Amir Ahmed Imam for the vacant WBC junior welterweight championship, winning March 17, 2018, by unanimous decision.

He defended the title twice before capturing Maurice Hooker’s WBO crown via technical knockout last July .

But the pandemic stymied his matchup against the 36-year-old Postol, who traveled to China to complete his training camp as the virus began to surge.

“It was a long flight,” Postol said through an interpreter. “This camp has also been very long. I came three months before the fight date, but I feel good. I feel ready to fight.”

Postol once held the WBC junior welterweight crown, but lost to it to Terence Crawford on July 23, 2016 at MGM Grand. He hopes Saturday to become a two-time world champion.

Ramirez, though, has bigger goals.

He’s eyeing a victory Saturday, and an eventual showdown with WBA and IBF junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor, who defends his belts next month.

“I am ready to go and continue my journey to become undisputed champion,” Ramirez said. “I know Viktor Postol stands in the way of that, and he is a very experienced fighter. I have been training very, very hard for this fight.”

Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.