John ‘Scrappy’ Ramirez targets big names for likely April return

Junior bantamweight contender John “Scrappy” Ramirez is eyeing a return in April – with hopes of landing big-name fighters like Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez and Julio Cesar Martinez for his next fight. 

Ramirez won a 10-round unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Ephraim Bui in December to move to 14-1 (9 KOs). The bout served as Ramirez’s first fight since his lone defeat, a unanimous decision to David Jimenez in April 2024. 

Ramirez, a 28-year-old from Los Angeles trained by Julian Chua, is pursuing fan-friendly fights that will get people talking. 

“All I’m looking for is big fights,” Ramirez told BoxingScene. “I’m aiming for Chocolatito. I am aiming for Julio Cesar Martinez. I’m aiming for ‘Bam’ [lineal champion Jesse Rodriguez].”

“I want to push myself,” he said. “I came to this sport with nothing, so I got nothing to lose. I’m risking everything because I believe in myself. I know that I’m capable. I might sound a little delusional, but that’s OK. I can see it. I can feel it. I can smell it.”

“I just want to keep fighting, keep growing,” Ramirez said. “Obviously the ultimate goal is to become a world champion. I’m taking it one fight at a time. I’m enjoying the journey. I’m not rushing and I’m working on staying consistent.”

Last year’s loss to Jimenez taught him a valuable lesson. 

“It taught me that I can deal with adversity,” Ramirez said. “That’s a beautiful thing, because I was able to rise and keep pushing forward like nothing happened.”

Inspiration comes from his friendships with Bernard Hopkins, now an executive at Golden Boy Promotions, and teammate Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez. 

Hopkins lost his first pro fight and went on to have a hall-of-fame career, while Zurdo has recovered from his loss to Dmitry Bivol in a light heavyweight title fight and has since gone on to become a unified cruiserweight titleholder. 

“I find inspiration in all my friends who have achieved greatness,” John Ramirez said. “B-Hop is one of them. He lost his pro debut, came back and he’s a legend today. Zurdo Ramirez failed against Bivol to became a light heavyweight champion. He’s soon to be an undisputed champion. I feed off their energy, and seeing them achieve these things makes me believe that I’m capable of doing it.”