Report- Josh Taylor battle with Jose Ramirez set for May

The long planned Undisputed Jr. Welterweight clash between Scotland’s Josh Taylor and Jose Ramirez is apparently now set for later this May.

That’s according to a report Tuesday afternoon by Mike Coppinger of the Athletic, who tweeted that May 22nd will be the date and Las Vegas will be the site for the 140 lb. showdown,

Sources: The highly anticipated undisputed junior welterweight title fight between Josh Taylor and Jose Ramirez is signed and set for May 22 in Las Vegas. Big ESPN fight. Can’t wait for this one. Two undefeated fighters, all four belts. Free to read!https://t.co/TSYvOfh2Qk

— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) March 2, 2021

The 17-0, 13 KO’s Scotsman, was last in action in September against IBF mandatory opponent Apinun Khongsong. As Marquis Johns wrote, this bout was over in under two minutes, as Taylor, the IBF and WBA champs, dropped the Thai Khongsong with a body shot that he never got up from in the opening frame.

Taylor is most known for his World Boxing Super Series finale’ win over American Regis Prograis on a 12 round decision in October 2019. That added Prograis’ WBA belt to his IBF title.

As for Ramirez, he was last in the ring in late August in Vegas against former world champ Viktor Postol. In a hard fought battle, Ramirez successfully defended his WBC/WBO Jr. Welterweight titles with a 12 round majority decision.

That improved the Californian’s record to 26-0 with 17 KOs and set the stage for the Taylor Undisputed matchup.

Top Rank Boxing, who promotes both fighters, has been waiting to see if some fans can attend for this matchup and pushed the date into the late Spring. The good news is that Covid 19 spread is declining nation-wide and in Nevada.

And a positive sign was Nevada and Clark County (Vegas) health officials allowing fans for the first time this NHL season for the Vegas Golden Knights hockey game on Monday night. The Knights welcomed over 2,000 socially distanced in their 18,000 seat arena for the first time they’ve had a home crowd since the January start of their season.

It’s believed that if things progress in Nevada, that there could be 50% capacity of fans allowed at indoor events by late May. However, that may be ambitious.

The May 22nd date has some recent controversy, as Coppinger obtained an angry email that Top Rank matchmaker Todd duBoef sent to Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing and their DAZN streaming partner blasting them for planning to purse bid on the upcoming Teofimo Lopez-George Kambosos mandatory Lightweight title fight.

In that email, duBoef specifically referenced Top Rank agreeing to move the Taylor-Ramirez fight off their intended date of May 8th to allow Matchroom/DAZN to put together their Canelo Alvarez-Billy Joe Saunders Super Middleweight battle that they want on that “Cinco de Mayo” weekend without a competing prominent fight in the same city.

Matchroom did go ahead and bid on the Lopez fight, but they and Top Rank were blown away by Triller putting forth more than double the amount of $6 million to get the rights to promote.

Drama aside, on paper the Taylor-Ramirez should be very entertaining for all the belts at 140 lb.