By Norm Frauenheim-
LAS VEGAS – On the scale, nothing separates them. A fight projected to be even in every way was exactly that at the weigh-in.
Not an ounce separated Jose Ramirez and Josh Taylor Friday. It was 139.6 pounds each for all four of the significant pieces to the junior-welterweight title Saturday at Virgin Hotels.
Ramirez has two of the belts. Taylor has the other two. Half-and-half, split right down the middle in a bout (ESPN 8pm ET/5 pm PT) between two fighters with different, yet equal styles.
Take your pick.
In Taylor (17-0, 13 KOs) , there is a versatile skillset, an ability to switch from right to left and agile footwork that allows him to move in, out and away. In Ramirez (26-0, 17 KOs), there is dogged grit, a tireless determination to move forward with a will that seeks, even embraces, adversity.
Take your pick.
The best one might be Fight of the Year. Late Friday, only the betting wasn’t divided. Taylor was a slight favorite. In a pick-em fight, it looks as if the bettors favor Taylor because he has more options, more ways to win.
But Ramirez has an instinct that is very hard to beat. Think Erik Morales. Think Michael Carbajal. Think Oscar Valdez Jr. They seemed to get better when hurt. Adversity is an ally. Their way.
For Taylor, the task is to break that will. He’s confident enough to believe he can. Ramirez is vulnerable, Taylor said.
“Vulnerable to be stopped,’’ he said in a conference call earlier this week.
Taylor is promising a knockout to anyone willing to listen, especially Taylor. Ramirez has been there, face-to-face, for photos Thursday after a news conference and again Friday.
An angry confrontation erupted as Taylor and his cornermen left the weigh-in and encountered a crowd of Ramirez fans in a hallway outside of the ball room. At the hotel elevators, Ramirez and Taylor shoved each other, each exchanging insults and threats. Opening bel can’t come soon enough.
For the last couple of days, the Scotsman called The Tartan Tornado has been The Tireless Trash Talker. It’s only business, perhaps. He says he respects Ramirez. But Ramirez, he says, is his enemy through Saturday.
If trash talk is a calculated weapon, it might be working. Ramirez, the quiet son of farmworkers in central California, reacted to Taylor’s rhetorical footwork Thursday and again Friday. Ramirez told Boxing Scene that Taylor is “a fake” after Thursday’s final news conference.
After they faced off after Friday’s weigh-in, Ramirez matched Taylor, word-for-word, as they stood nose-to-nose. Eventually, Taylor trainer Ben Davison stepped in between the two. As Davison led Taylor away and toward the edge of the stage, Ramirez gestured to him as if to say the Scot was all talk, only talk.
It was noteworthy only because nobody has ever seen Ramirez react with that kind of angry emotion. Was Taylor in his head? Had Taylor distracted him? Or had Taylor only motivated Ramirez even more?
Ramirez has already talked about what a victory could do for him in terms of legacy.
“This is a historical fight for me,’’ he said a few days ago. “You know, this could open up the doors for the Hall of Fame for me in the future.’’
It’ll open a lot of immediate doors for the winner. There’s talk of a fight against welterweight champion and leading pound-for-pound contender Terence Crawford, the last junior-welterweight to hold all four belts.
Crawford has nothing on his schedule. Manny Pacquiao announced Friday that he will fight Errol Spence Jr. on August 21.
“One-forty-seven, 140, 135,’’ Taylor said. “The possibilities, the options after this fight, are massive.’’
Take your pick.
