Jesus Ramos wants Jermell Charlo at junior middleweight

Jesus Ramos’ dream opponent at 154lbs is Jermell Charlo.

Louisiana’s Charlo, 34, dominated the junior middleweight division in his prime, attaining the undisputed championship. He left the division and behind for a superfight with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez at 168lbs and has since been stripped of his titles, but the impression of his excellence at 154 remains.

Ramos, 21-1 (17 KOs), is preparing feverishly to take on Jeison Rosario – a former champion at junior middleweight – on February 1 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. But he says he can’t wait for the opportunity to take on Charlo.

“I want the top guys. There’s a lot of talent like you said and I mean, at 154, I think, the guy I want to fight would be Charlo,” Ramos told BoxingScene. “I want him because he’s still the man at 154. Nobody has really beaten him at 154 so he’s the most accomplished boxer in the division.” (Charlo lost a unanimous decision to Tony Harrison in 2018 but avenged the defeat by knockout.)

Ramos will move up to 160 to take on Rosario, 24-4-2 (18 KOs), but the Arizona native confirmed to BoxingScene that he was not interested in staying at middleweight beyond the Rosario fight. He’s willing to face any of the top fighters at 154 such as Bakhram Murtazaliev (IBF champion), Terence Crawford (WBA champion), and Sebastian Fundora (WBC and WBO champion).

“There are other champions as well like you mentioned. From Fundora, Bakhram, we’ve got a lot of fighters that are coming up as well and I want to have any of those top names but the dream fight will always be against Charlo. 

“I have watched him since I was little. He’s the one that’s been around the most at 154. So, I think that would be a painful fight for me.”

Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at [email protected].