José Luis Ramírez (born December 3, 1958) is a Mexican former professional boxer who was a two-time World Lightweight Champion. His most notable fights include two bouts each with Edwin Rosario and Pernell Whitaker, as well as fights against Ruben Olivares, Alexis Arguello, Ray Mancini, Hector Camacho, Julio Cesar Chavez and Juan Martin Coggi.

Career

A native of Huatabampo, Sonora and a resident of Culiacán, Ramírez made his professional debut on March 25, 1973 at the age of 14. He climbed slowly but steadily on boxing's rankings. In 1978, as a Featherweight, a 19 year old Ramírez lost by knockout for the only time in his career to legendary three time former world champion Rubén Olivares in two rounds.

After his move in weight to the Lightweights, 21-year-old Ramírez accumulated a record of 67-2, and met another boxing legend inside the ring, when he fought Alexis Argüello. Ramírez dropped Argüello for the first time in his career in round six, but lost a disputed ten round split decision in Miami. He then faced Ray Mancini for the North American Lightweight belt, and lost a 12 round decision in Ohio. By then, Ramírez and Julio César Chávez were gymmates and friends.

Ramírez won his following 10 bouts and on May 1, 1983, he was given the chance at becoming world Lightweight champion for the first time, when he fought Puerto Rican Edwin "El Chapo" Rosario at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico, for the World Boxing Council's championship. Ramírez lost a close 12 round unanimous decision, but on November 3, of 1984, he and Rosario had a rematch, also in San Juan. After rising from two knockdowns, Ramírez rallied back to stagger Rosario in the third round. With Rosario pinned against a corner and Ramírez attacking, referee Steve Crosson stopped the bout in round four, after Ramírez had landed 17 straight punches, making Ramírez a world Lightweight champion for the first time, by a technical knockout. The fight was named the 1984 Ring Magazine fight of the year.

Ramírez then went into training for a defense against Héctor Camacho, another boxer from Puerto Rico. The fight was postponed when Camacho suffered a broken ankle during a pick up basketball game, but it finally came off on August 10, 1985. On his first fight telecast on HBO Boxing, Ramírez was dropped in round three and lost a 12 round unanimous decision.

Ramírez moved to Paris soon after. There, he re-grouped, and was able to regain the WBC's world championship when Camacho left it vacant in 1987, by edging out Terrence Alli with another close but unanimous 12 round decision. In his first title defense, he defeated former champion Cornelius Boza-Edwards by fifth round knock out. In his second defense, he was awarded a 12 round split decision victory against future multiple world champion Pernell Whitaker. The consensus among both United States media and US fans was that Whitaker deserved to win the fight.

Back in Mexico, he and Chávez were neighbors. Chávez had lifted the World Boxing Association's world Lightweight championship by beating Rosario, and a unification bout between the two friends and neighbors was planned. Ramírez, who is a godfather to one of Chávez's sons, lost an 11 round technical decision to Chávez on October 29 of 1988, which marked the last day he would be a world champion.

In 1989, he tried to win the International Boxing Federation's belt from Whitaker, in Virginia, but he lost a 12 round decision. Then, in 1990, he returned to France, where he lost to Juan Martin Coggi by a decision in 12 for the WBA's world Jr. Welterweight title in Ajaccio. After that bout, he retired.

Ramírez was a member of the less recognized, defunct World Boxing Hall of Fame in California, not to be confused with the more widely recognized International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota. In 2003, Ring magazine placed Ramirez on their list of the 100 greatest punchers of all time.

His boxing record is 102–9 (82 KOs). Seven of Ramirez's nine career losses came against future Hall Of Fame members.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateAgeLocationNotes111Loss102–9Martín CoggiUD12Mar 24, 1990110Loss102–8Pernell WhitakerUD12Aug 20, 1989109Win102–7Juan MinayaDQ5 (8)Mar 10, 1989108Loss101–7Julio César ChávezTD11 (12), Oct 29, 1988107Win101–6Pernell WhitakerSD12Mar 12, 1988106Win100–6John RafuseTKO4 (?)Dec 19, 1987105Win99–6Cornelius Boza-EdwardsKO5 (12)Oct 10, 1987104Win98–6Terrence AlliUD12Jul 19, 1987103Win97–6Steve MitchellKO5 (?)May 25, 1987102Win96–6Roger BrownTKO7 (?)May 12, 1987101Win95–6David TaylorPTS10Apr 16, 1987100Win94–6Efrain NievesTKO3 (?)Mar 27, 198799Win93–6John SinegalTKO2 (?)Dec 8, 198698Win92–6Charlie BrownUD10Oct 25, 198697Win91–6Nick ParkerTKO6 (?)Sep 15, 198696Loss90–6Héctor CamachoUD12Aug 10, 198595Win90–5Manuel HernandezUD10Jun 6, 198594Win89–5J.T. WalkerTKO4 (10), Mar 13, 198593Win88–5Edwin RosarioTKO4 (12), Nov 3, 198492Win87–5Martin QuirozUD10Jun 2, 198491Win86–5Hector MedinaTKO4 (?)May 11, 198490Win85–5Victor KellyTKO3 (?)Dec 30, 198389Win84–5Manuel SanchezTKO3 (?)Nov 4, 198388Win83–5Joe GallardoKO2 (?)Oct 7, 198387Loss82–5Edwin RosarioUD12May 1, 198386Win82–4Jose CebrerosKO3 (?)Feb 26, 198385Win81–4Frankie MoultrieKO3 (12), Nov 26, 198284Win80–4Ramon AvitiaKO6 (12)Oct 23, 198283Win79–4Francisco DelgadoKO4 (?)Oct 1, 198282Win78–4Rigoberto RuizKO5 (10)Sep 10, 198281Win77–4Ernesto HerreraTKO4 (?)Aug 28, 198280Win76–4Ricardo PeraltaTKO6 (12), Jun 25, 198279Win75–4Jorge MoralesPTS10May 8, 198278Win74–4Benjamin AbarcaKO3 (12)Mar 19, 198277Win73–4Benjamin AbarcaKO6 (12)Oct 23, 198176Win72–4Jose Luis SoberanesPTS10Aug 28, 198175Loss71–4Ray ManciniUD12Jul 19, 198174Win71–3Ezequiel Cocoa SanchezUD10May 10, 198173Win70–3Celso LimonKO1 (?)Apr 9, 198172Win69–3Abdul BeyKO3 (?)Feb 27, 198171Win68–3Ernesto GarfiasTKO7 (10)Feb 7, 198170Loss67–3Alexis ArgüelloSD10Nov 14, 198069Win67–2Vicente MijaresTKO6 (12)Oct 11, 198068Win66–2Dario De JesusTKO1 (10)Aug 23, 198067Win65–2Manuel SanchezTKO6 (?)Aug 10, 198066Win64–2Jesus Cuate LaraKO7 (10)Jul 10, 198065Win63–2Rafael NunezKO1 (10)Jun 19, 198064Win62–2German CuelloKO8 (?)Mar 21, 198063Win61–2Jose TorresKO5 (10)Feb 3, 198062Win60–2Eric BonillaTKO4 (?)Dec 19, 197961Win59–2Ignacio CamposTKO12 (12)Nov 26, 197960Win58–2Joe GallardoKO4 (?)Nov 11, 197959Win57–2Jose Luis CastilloPTS12Sep 28, 197958Win56–2Ignacio CamposTKO7 (10)Aug 20, 197957Win55–2Antonio NavaPTS10Jul 27, 197956Win54–2Adrian EstrellaKO7 (?)Jul 8, 197955Win53–2Humberto GutiérrezKO9 (12)Jun 15, 197954Win52–2Saul MontanaKO7 (?)Apr 6, 197953Win51–2Julio NavaKO3 (?)Mar 7, 197952Win50–2Aurelio MunizTKO9 (10)Feb 2, 197951Win49–2Cesar SavinonTKO2 (?)Dec 1, 197850Win48–2David BernalKO3 (10)Oct 20, 197849Win47–2Leonardo BermudezPTS10Sep 1, 197848Win46–2Salvador TorresTKO3 (?)Jul 21, 197847Win45–2Bobo GonzalezKO2 (?)Jul 7, 197846Win44–2Chito FelixKO3 (?)Jun 23, 197845Loss43–2Rubén OlivaresTKO2 (10)Apr 28, 197844Win43–1Ramon PerazaKO3 (?)Feb 17, 197843Win42–1Henry JacoboKO4 (?)Feb 3, 197842Win41–1Joe GallardoKO7 (?)Jan 7, 197841Win40–1Camilo IbarraKO7 (?)Dec 7, 197740Win39–1Aurelio MunizPTS10Aug 1, 197739Win38–1Hector MunozKO7 (?)Jul 7, 197738Win37–1Carlos UlloaKO1 (?)Jun 29, 197737Win36–1Nexae MaciasTKO1 (?)Jun 17, 197736Win35–1Rolando MartinezKO1 (?)Apr 12, 197735Win34–1Ramon PerazaPTS10Feb 11, 197734Win33–1Jesus Cuate LaraKO4 (?)Nov 15, 197633Win32–1Jose DelgadoTKO5 (?)Nov 5, 197632Win31–1Jose DelgadoKO3 (?)Sep 27, 197631Win30–1Elio HernandezTKO3 (?)Sep 13, 197630Win29–1Rosendo RamirezTKO5 (?)Aug 6, 197629Win28–1Javier RiosKO1 (?)Jun 7, 197628Win27–1Ray EsparzaTKO4 (?)May 17, 197627Win26–1Frankie CrawfordTKO7 (?)Feb 13, 197626Win25–1Lorenzo MaldonaldoKO3 (?)Oct 1, 197525Win24–1Cono LopezKO5 (10)Aug 15, 197524Win23–1Nino GonzalezPTS10Jun 18, 197523Win22–1Ernesto CastilloKO2 (?)May 21, 197522Loss21–1Sergio EnriquezPTS10Apr 30, 197521Win21–0Jose Luis LizarragaKO3 (?)Apr 18, 197520Win20–0Pajaro MoralesKO2 (?)Mar 21, 197519Win19–0Pajaro MoralesKO5 (?)Jul 16, 197418Win18–0Solomon TapiaPTS8Jun 14, 197417Win17–0Enrique TorresKO3 (?)May 17, 197416Win16–0Jose GonzalezKO1 (?)May 12, 197415Win15–0Rudy SanchezKO2 (?)May 7, 197414Win14–0Gustavo GuerreroPTS8Apr 5, 197413Win13–0Indio HuicosaKO2 (?)Mar 29, 197412Win12–0Mario FortanelKO3 (?)Mar 16, 197411Win11–0Alberto PerezKO5 (10)Oct 30, 197310Win10–0Indio HuicosaPTS6Oct 10, 19739Win9–0Jesse TorresKO1 (?)Sep 20, 19738Win8–0Gustavo GuerreroTKO5 (?)Aug 30, 19737Win7–0Lino MunozKO3 (?)Aug 15, 19736Win6–0Delfino MendozaPTS6Aug 1, 19735Win5–0Delfino MendozaKO1 (?)Jul 12, 19734Win4–0Chuy LopezKO3 (?)May 15, 19733Win3–0Roberto NavarretteKO1 (?)Apr 29, 19732Win2–0Noe MoralesKO1 (?)Apr 15, 19731Win1–0 Mario AmparanTKO6 (?)Mar 25, 1973

See also List of southpaw stance boxers List of Mexican boxing world champions List of world lightweight boxing champions

References

External links