LAS VEGAS (August 29, 2020) — Unified WBO junior welterweight world champion Jose Ramirez solved the riddle of Viktor “The Iceman” Postol. In his first bout as a unified world champion, Ramirez came on strong late to edge Postol via majority decision by scores of 114-114, 115-113 and 116-112.

Ramirez (26-0, 17 KOs) swept the last three rounds of two of the judges’ cards to pull out the win. Postol (31-3, 12 KOs), a former WBC 140-pound world champion, saw his two-bout winning streak come to an end.

Ramirez kept alive his hopes of unifying the division with WBA/IBF world champion Josh Taylor, a promotional stablemate who bested Postol by unanimous decision in June 2018. Taylor defends his belts Sept. 26 against Apinun Khongsong, live on ESPN+.

Said Ramirez, “I went in there a little too cold, you know? I impressed myself. I’m much stronger than most guys think. I just gotta not lose confidence in myself and stick to what I do best and box, let my hands go and not hesitate too much. I think there was a little bit of hesitation throughout the fight.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been in the ring. There have been a lot of things that have happened in my personal life. It’s been such a long training camp. I think {I went} through the routine instead of, ‘Let’s fight.’

“I felt like I was just in a sparring session. I think I could’ve made the fight a lot easier in my favor, but we live and we learn. This was an amazing experience. I’m just happy I got the win.”

Said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, “It was a good fight, but both men were impacted by going through three training camps and the whole situation with COVID-19. That being said, I thought Jose clearly won the fight.”

Photos by Mikey Williams