By Ryan Burton
On Tuesday it was revealed that WBC super lightweight champion Jose Ramirez (22-0) will return to the ring on September 14th against Antonio Orozco (27-0) in Fresno in an ESPN televised main event.
Ramirez was scheduled to make his first title defense this past Saturday but the fight ended up getting canceled when his opponent Danny O'Connor had to be hospitalized before the weigh in for dehydration.
The fight will be the second Top Rank-Golden Boy collaboration in recent months. In May, Vasily Lomachenko got off the canvas to knock out Jorge Linares in 10 rounds to capture the WBA lightweight title.
"I am glad that Top Rank and Golden Boy got together. They got this done quick. Now it is time for Antonio Orozco to shine. He is real excited. This is a dream come true for him," Orozco's manager Frank Espinoza told krikya360.com.
Ramirez is promoted by Top Rank and Orozco fights under the Golden Boy banner. Both fighters are aggressive in the ring and Espinoza believes there styles will produce a barn burner of a fight.
"This is a can't miss fight. These styles I think are meant for each other. Certainly this is going to be a great fight. Ramirez comes to fight and my guy definitely comes to fight, Espinoza explained.
Orozco has had weight issues in the past but Espinoza insists that won't be a problem. The 30-year-old already was in the gym training for an August 3rd fight against Pablo Cesar Cano so he will have had an extended camp when he gets in the ring against Ramirez.
"We will keep him in check," chuckled Espinoza. "I am confident that he will make it. He is very motivated and he will not miss this opportunity. I will get him a conditioning coach and he was preparing for August 3rd anyway so now he has a few more weeks to get ready."
There hasn't been any mention of a co-feature bout as of yet but Espinoza is hoping that another one of his clients gets that slot.
"I would love to have Jessie (Magdaleno) on there. He is in the gym working with Jose Benavidez Sr. and he will be ready to go," Espinoza stated.
Magdaleno was last in action in April when he was stopped by Isaac Dogboe in 11 rounds in an exciting fight in Philadelphia. Magdaleno sent Dogboe to the canvas in the first round but Dogboe was able to recover and capture the WBO super bantamweight title.
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