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Steve KimESPN
After months of uncertainty and two previous postponements, WBC and WBO junior welterweight titleholder Jose Ramirez (25-0, 17 KOs) will defend his belts against Viktor Postol (31-2, 12 KOs) in the main event of a Top Rank card at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Ramirez and Postol were scheduled to meet on Feb. 1 in China, but the event was canceled because of coronavirus pandemic. The fight was then rescheduled for May 9, but that date was also scratched. The winner will have a chance to unify all four major belts against Josh Taylor, who holds the WBA and IBF titles. But Taylor also needs to win when he faces his IBF mandatory challenger, Apinun Khongsong, on Sept. 26.
In the co-main event, Arnold Barboza Jr. (23-0, 10 KOs) takes on Tony Luis (29-3, 10 KOs) in a 10-round junior welterweight battle. Barboza has won four of his past five fights by stoppage, including an impressive fifth-round KO of William Silva in November. Luis is 10-0 since a decision loss to Derry Mathews in 2015.
Also on the card, welterweight sensation Elvis Rodriguez (8-0-1, 8 KOs) is looking for his ninth consecutive victory by stoppage when he takes on Cody Wilson (9-2, 6 KOs) in a sixth-round welterweight contest, and preschool teacher Gabriel Muratalla (4-0, 3 KOs) makes his third appearance inside the Top Rank bubble against Justice Bland (2-0, 0 KOs). Muratalla scored a first-round TKO victory against Fernando Robles in June, and a one-sided unanimous decision victory over Sergio Lopez in July.
Stay here for live undercard results and analysis.
Still to come:
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Title fight: Jose Ramirez vs. Viktor Postol, 12 rounds, for Ramirez’s WBC/WBO junior welterweight title
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Arnold Barboza Jr. vs. Tony Luis, 10 rounds, junior welterweights
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Elvis Rodriguez vs. Cody Wilson, 6 rounds, welterweights
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Cesar Valenzuela vs. Raymond Muratalla, 8 rounds, lightweights
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Gabriel Muratalla vs. Justice Bland, 4 rounds, bantamweights
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Rance Ward vs. Javier Martinez, 6 rounds, middleweights