Top Rank on ESPN crowned a new WBC junior welterweight titleholder in Jose Ramirez tonight from the Theater at Madison Square Garden. Amir Imam put up a valiant effort, but ultimately fell short on the scorecards in a very entertaining fight. Oleksandr Gvozdyk also won an interim belt in the show’s opener over little know Mehdi Amar in a fight that wasn’t quite as one sided as expected.
The atmosphere was intense to start the show’s main event. The action matched in the opening frame as Amir Imam (21-2, 18 KOs) boxed beautifully with his jabs and several nice right hands. One uppercut in particular really launched Jose Ramirez’s (22-0, 16 KOs) head into the air. Ramirez responded big in the second round, however, starting with a big flurry against the ropes and landing basically all of the power punches that got through. Amir did better in the third beautiful some beautiful jabs, but the power shots were still coming mostly from the Californian.
The fourth round was difficult to score. Jose Ramirez landed some nice power shots, but mostly he missed while Imam worked his pretty jab. I gave it to Amir, but it could have gone either way. The fifth was clearer along the same style. Jose mostly missed, so Imam won it mostly on jabs. Round six was a big shift, however, as Amir Imam was buzzed by a big right hand about a minute in and needed to mostly survive the round. He wasn’t nearly finished, but it was the biggest punch of the fight at that point for sure.
The seventh wasn’t as dramatic as the sixth, but Jose Ramirez still landed really well. This time it was more with his left hook. At this point I didn’t like where this was headed for Amir Imam even though I only had him down one round. Imam and his corner seemed to agree as he came out in the eighth with a totally different gameplan. Suddenly aggressive, he spent the first minute ripping Jose Ramirez. He couldn’t maintain it, however, and he was outlanded big by the end. It was a fantastic round to watch. The ninth was similarly entertaining. Fought in a phone booth, Amir Imam got some real good work done, but again was ultimately outworked by a narrow margin.
The tenth round was a close but solid round for Amir Imam until about thirty seconds remained. From there to the bell, Jose Ramirez whipped Imam’s head around with a variety of big shots to steal the round. Despite nearly every round being highly competitive, I had Amir Imam needing a finish to win in the championship rounds. He didn’t get it. The Californian soon to be world titleholder battered him pretty well in the eleventh and the twelfth was even worse. Imam’s left eye was almost completely closed by the fight’s closing bell.
I scored the fight 117-111. That is a pretty wide score for a competitive fight, but Jose Ramirez seemed to me to just win most of the close rounds with his volume before pulling away late. It was a good showing for both men really though. Official scores came back 115-113, 117-111, and 120-108. Jose Ramirez is now a junior welterweight titleholder alongside Mikey Garcia and Kiryl Relikh. Regis “Rougarou” Prograis awaits as his mandatory challenger. Sign me up for that one immediately.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk (15-0, 12 KOs) started slow in the card’s opening fight for a secondary WBC light heavyweight belt. Too slow, probably, to win the first round against Mehdi Amar (34-6-2, 16 KOs). The Frenchmen landed the better shots in the opening frame. He didn’t get either of the next two rounds, however. Oleksandr remained cautious, but he pumped a nice double jab that carried the rounds.
Gvozdyk broke through in the fourth round, wobbling his French challenger along the ropes. Amar recovered well though and found his way back to the center of the ring. The Ukrainian continued the new dominance in the fifth, though Mehdi Amar still got a good shot or two more in than the elite light heavyweight would like. Gvozdyk can be a little sloppy when forced to come forward.
Mehdi Amar actually landed the better shots in round six. This was not the fight that this looked like on paper. It didn’t last and Oleksandr Gvozdyk used a high volume attack to take the next few rounds, but Mehdi was still landing throughout. This isn’t the first time Gvozdyk has looked vulnerable when drawn forward in a fight either. When someone chases the Ukrainian he uses his world class lateral footwork as his defense, but he is lacking a more traditional guard when he has to come forward with his legs instead of defending with them.
The expected man carried the championship rounds to conclude the fight. The twelfth was exciting too. Gvozdyk clearly wanted a finish and worked hard against the ropes. Amar was really getting battered when suddenly he landed a pretty epic right hand in response. The French light heavyweight is not a puncher so the shot didn’t have the impact it might have, but it definitely gave the soon to be interim titleholder something to think about.
Still, despite the sometimes defensive shakiness, Oleksandr Gvozdyk threw just shy of a thousand punches to win a wide decision. Scores came back 117-111, 116-112, and 118-110 in his favor. I had it 118-110.
