LOS ANGELES – Former unified junior welterweight champion Jose Ramirez is not short on confidence heading into his May 2 fight against Devin Haney in New York on
DAZN PPV, despite coming in as a near +700 betting underdog and after a shaky loss last time out in November.
That’s because Haney is also looking to hit the reset button on his career following a three-knockdown decision loss to
Ryan Garcia, which was later ruled a No Contest after it was revealed Garcia tested positive for the PED Ostarine.
“
Haney is a great fighter, but he doesn't have the great defense that people think he has,”
Ramirez told The Ring in an interview. “He fights a little bit. He doesn't have the best shoulder roll. He's not quick and light on his feet. I see him make a lot of mistakes.
“Most definitely [I see a path to victory]. I see a blueprint for me to beat him. He's a great fighter but he does have some things that he needs to work on when it comes to his defense. He's been touched by a lot of fighters before and he's been hurt. Haney got hurt by Jorge Linares [in 2021], and Linares is not the fighter that I am. Haney makes the mistake of wanting to brawl sometimes, and I hope he does that with me.”
Haney told The Ring that he’s going to clean up the obvious mistakes he made in the Garcia fight, and that he wasn’t worried about the challenges Ramirez presents because he’s fought “a million Jose Ramirez's” before. The 2012 United States Olympian Ramirez said he’s going to adapt styles as the fight goes on.
“I've been under the bright lights for many years,” said Ramirez. “I'm grateful to be on a show like this with so much talent and popular fighters. It motivates me to showcase my talent in the best way that I could.”
The 32-year-old Fresno native also wants to make sure he knocks out all talks and innuendos around retirement.
When the volume-punching Ramirez was asked how he’s going to beat Haney, he took a 10-second break and said: “By knockout. By stoppage … I am looking to showcase the best performance of my career. This could be the beginning of a nice chapter for my career as a professional fighter.”
Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X/Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan.