Josh Kelly vs Placido Ramirez fight breakdown
Josh Kelly faces Placido Ramirez in maiden hometown fight as he builds towards a title challenge
‘Pretty Boy’ Josh Kelly (14-1-1, 7KOs) steps into the ring with hard-hitting Colombian Placido Ramirez (24-3, 17KOs).
29-year-old Kelly was originally scheduled to fight Roarke Knapp, however, the South African suffered a hand injury and was forced to withdraw from the fight.
The festive fight night will mark the local hero’s first headlining slot in his hometown, taking place at The Beacon of Light in Sunderland.
‘Pretty Boy Kelly’ burst onto the professional scene after an exceptional amateur career, representing Great Britain at the 2016 Olympics and becoming a European Games Bronze Medallist. After turning pro in 2017, the Brit finished the year at 5-0 and was touted to go all the way to the top after such a blistering start.
However, in what was a surprise to many, Kelly’s progress towards international stardom was quickly halted when he was humbled against highly-ranked welterweight David Avanesyan, suffering a sixth-round defeat to the Russian.
The Mackem man took some time out then returned 16 months later and has since won four on the spin – all dominant displays against decent competition.
He displays alien-like reflexes, with his fantastic, fluid head and upper body movement, and showers his opponents with swiping left hooks, suffocating them into submission. While not quite a knockout artist, Kelly instead completely demoralises his opponents by hitting them whilst they can only catch air, leading to extremely dominant decision wins. He is most comfortable on the backfoot where he can study his opposites to land quick counters. He likes to have distance between him and his foes, preferring not to exchange on the inside. He possesses quick feet and has shown shades of Lomachenko with his Matrix-style movement, but he is most certainly lacking power.
Making the jump up in weights to fight consistently at super-welter, the Tyne and Wear fighter has rebuilt his reputation, and a win on Saturday would likely see him elevated further in the world ratings at 154 pounds, currently ranked IBF #4 and WBC #12.
Across the ring, his mean opponent will be dreaming of becoming the Grinch who stole Christmas.
Ramirez may not be a huge name at super-welterweight (ranked #47 in the world by BoxRec), but he has a respectable KO ratio, and his last seven victories have all been decided by knockout, mostly within three rounds, so he will be no pushover on Saturday night.
The 29-year-old Colombian has finished 17 of his opponents early during his 24 wins. His most notable victory came from a fourth-round knockout win over 22-1 Lukasz Wierzbicki earlier this year, to win the Republic of Poland International Welterweight title.
Ramirez is currently the number one Colombian fighter at 154, and a former two-weight national champion. However, he is no stranger to hostility and controversy.
Ramirez’s last outing ended in bizarre circumstances after the referee gave a confusing hand signal leading Ramirez to believe he could continue, while his opponent, undefeated Albanian Denis Nurja, was recoverng up from a fall and limping on one foot to his corner, so Ramirez ran across the ring to launch an attack, landing a leaping left hook causing his foe to slump into the ropes, clearly confused by the referee’s gesture. This provoked an extreme response from some of the fans as they jumped in the ring and attempted to attack Ramirez, who was being guarded by the ref. The downright strange fight was later declared a no-contest.
Triumph for Kelly on Saturday sets up some exciting prospective fights for the Brit. With Connor Benn’s showdown against Chris Eubank Junior seemingly on the ropes, a 2024 machup would be an intriguing domestic contest and one that would likely be far closer than many would imagine. However, with Benn only looking up, calling out the likes of Devin Haney, it’s unlikely that would materialise.
A rematch with David Avanesyan, who fights on December 20 in Birmingham, would give the chance for ‘PBK’ to avenge his 2021 defeat to right his only wrong.
But before he can look ahead, he has a tricky opponent to contend with just eight days before Christmas.
The fight will be available to stream this Saturday night on DAZN, with the event starting from 7pm.
Betting Odds
Kelly 1/18
Ramirez 17/2
Draw 25/1
Prediction
Josh Kelly is an elite boxer, something that many people seem to forget. I would even go as far as to argue that he is one of the most underestimated fighters in the sport. With an early draw against Ray Robinson and victories over Troy Williamson and Przemyslaw Runowski, ‘Pretty Boy Kelly’ has shown he can go toe-to-toe with the top contenders.
While you can never count out a man with the ability to end a fight with one punch, I think it is all Kelly’s to lose.
Ramirez is a good boxer, but not an elite one. I don’t see any path to victory for the visitor, other than a single devastating combination, but catching Kelly cold is not easy.
Kelly should be able to keep Ramirez at bay and box on a level that the Colombian can’t match, moving in-and-out of danger, and unloading lightning-fast combos that he will have no hope of defending against.
Far the superior fighter, the ring craftsmanship and ability to enter and exit an exchange unscathed that Kelly demonstrates should allow him to stay out of danger and box to a comfortable decision win over the Columbian native.
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