LAS VEGAS – Jesus Ramos comes from a respectful family of fighters.

The junior middleweight contender’s extensive boxing background is among the things that make him uncomfortable using the word “shot.” He isn’t naïve, either, in that Ramos realizes he won’t encounter the same Jeison Rosario on Saturday night that upset Julian Williams five years ago in Philadelphia.

In fact, Ramos (21-1, 17 KOs) thinks the former IBF/IBO/WBA 154-pound champion lost the fight that revived Rosario’s career five months ago. Rosario’s 10-round split draw with fellow former junior middleweight champ Jarrett Hurd helped the Dominican veteran secure a 10-round fight with Ramos on the pay-per-view portion of the David Benavidez-David Morrell Jr. undercard Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.

“I gave the edge to Hurd, but I thought [Rosario] did really good,” Ramos told The Ring of their bout August 21 in Plant City, Florida. “He did look a little past his prime, a little slower, not the same Rosario that perhaps we saw against Julian Williams, even Brian Mendoza. I think when he fought Brian Mendoza, he was still a little sharper. With Hurd, he looked past his prime, but I think still he looked good. He’s still a threat. You can tell he still has the punching power. So, there’s a lot to look out for in the fight versus Rosario.”

Williams was a 30-1 favorite when Rosario (24-4-2, 18 KOs) stopped him in the fifth round of their 12-round title fight in January 2020 at Temple University’s Liacouras Center. Rosario never successfully defended his belts because Jermell Charlo knocked him out in the eighth round of Rosario’s following fight in September 2020 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.

Erickson Lubin knocked out Rosario in the sixth round of his subsequent bout in June 2021 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. One more knockout defeat to Mendoza, who violently stopped Rosario in November 2022, forced Rosario to announce his retirement in his locker room that night at The Armory in Minneapolis.

Rosario, still only 29, battled depression once he retired. He returned to training in the summer of 2023.

Now that he has knocked out journeyman Israel Valerio (then 16-9) and battled Hurd (25-3-1, 17 KOs) to a draw, Rosario hopes an upset of the younger, fresher Ramos will entirely rejuvenate his career. Ramos, 23, is The Ring’s No. 9 contender in the junior middleweight division and the southpaw from Casa Grande, Arizona is listed by DraftKings sportsbook as a 25-1 favorite over Rosario.

“I thought he was a lot older and he’s only 29,” Ramos said. “So, he’s fairly young. But, I mean, sometimes that’s the way it goes. He had tough fight after tough fight. And I hate to use this word, but sometimes fighters get shot. It happens. I’ve seen it time and time again. They don’t react the same and it happens, you know, when you’re fighting these tough, tough fights, and sometimes getting knocked out like that is tough. But it was sad, man, because I was a fan of Jeison Rosario.

“I remember when he fought [Nathaniel] Gallimore and Gallimore was signed to the same management company as me. And, you know, we saw that fight and he lost [by sixth-round TKO]. Then he bounced back. I watched his career and I was really excited when he beat Julian Williams. I liked his style. You know, I liked to study that fight. It seemed like he had a really good style going into that fight with Julian Williams.”