Ten months after accepting a WBA offer to fight in a title eliminator, super flyweight John “Scrappy” Ramirez (12-0, 9 KOs) will finally get his opportunity on October 7th in Las Vegas against Panama's Ronal Batista (15-3, 9 KOs). The winner will become the WBA mandatory challenger to Kazuto Ioka (30-2-1, 15 KOs) of Japan. Ioka, a Japanese legend and future Hall of Famer, defeated Joshua Franco this past June by scores of 116-112 (twice) and 115-113. Ramirez vs. Batista will be fighting in the co-feature of a Golden Boy-promoted card to be headlined by former super middleweight champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (44-1, 30 KOs) against former light heavyweight champion Joe “The Common Man” Smith, Jr. (28-4, 22 KOs). All the action will be streamed live on DAZN from The Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan.
Ramirez was initially matched against Sirichai Thaiyen (64-4, 42 KOs) of Thailand, but the fight never materialized. The 26 year-old Ramirez, fighting out of the mean streets of South Central Los Angeles, has had his patience rewarded, and the entertaining fighter of Belizean and Honduran descent vows to take full advantage of this long overdue opportunity. “It feels like I’m getting closer to my destination (to be world champion),” Ramirez said about the delay in his title elimination fight. “I didn’t have to fight my last two fights (he could have waited for the eliminator), but I risked it all. I’m in a good position and would have lost my position if I had lost either of those fights. We went with it and now I’m going to take advantage of this opportunity.
“This will be my first time fighting in Las Vegas. I call it my destiny, The last time I was there, I watched David Benevidez fight (Caleb) Plant. It (Las Vegas’ boxing atmosphere) was inspiring. I still have a chip on my shoulder, because people don’t know who I am, and I’m not getting respect.”
In his most recent fight this past May, the 26-year-old Batista dropped down one weight class, unsuccessfully challenging WBA flyweight champion Julio Cesar Martinez (19-2), who registered an eleventh-round technical knockout victory. Batista’s most notable victory to date is a ninth-round TKO of Antonio Guzman in 2018 for the International Boxing Association (IBA) Super Flyweight World title.
In addition to fighting in Las Vegas for his first time, “Scrappy” will also be in his first scheduled twelve-round bout, in addition to fighting on the same card as “Zurdo” Ramirez. “It’s a 12, we’re big boys,” Ramirez emphasized,” and I’m back together with ‘Zurdo’ on the same card. It’s an honor to share the ring with him again and I’m going to do the best I can do. I’m more comfortable now. We have the same competitive spirit and even though he’s in the main event, in a positive way, it’ll make me try to do better than him on October 7th. I’m not planning for this fight to go 12 rounds. My last two fights were decisions, but I’m looking for a knockout….I’m going to destroy this kid!” Ramirez is working with 3 Point Management
PRIOR BOXINGTALK COVERAGE
June 24, 2023: At the Ota City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japanese boxing legend Kazuto Ioka added to his Hall of Fame credentials by defeating Joshua Franco of Texas for the WBA super flyweight title. Franco was supposed to enter the ring as the defending champion, but had been stripped of his title on Friday for failing to make the super flyweight limit of 115 pounds. Ioka won a unanimous decision by scores of 116-112 (twice) and 115-113. Ioka is the only male Japanese boxer to win world titles in four weight classes. In December he attempted to unify his WBO super flyweight title with Franco's WBA version but the bout was a draw. Forced to choose between a WBO mandatory and a Franco rematch, Ioka surrendered his WBO belt and took the rematch. Today's win validated that decision. Ioka is now 30-2-1, and has avenged the draw as well as one of his losses. Franco returns home embarrassed at missing weight and with a record of 18-2-3.
