Jose Luis Ramirezborn 1958

José Luis Ramírez, known as “El Zurdo”, was a Mexican southpaw who boxed from featherweight through light-welterweight and twice held the World Boxing Council lightweight championship. Born in Huatabampo, Sonora, on 3 December 1958, he later became closely associated with Culiacán, Sinaloa. Ramírez stood approximately 5ft 6½in and completed a remarkable 17-year professional career with 102 victories and nine defeats from 111 contests. Eighty-two of his wins came inside the distance, and only one opponent stopped him.

Ramírez had little opportunity to build a conventional amateur career because he entered the professional ranks while still a schoolboy. He was only 14 when he made his debut in Huatabampo on 25 March 1973, stopping Mario Amparan in the sixth round. He fought with extraordinary frequency, winning 21 consecutive contests before Sergio Enriquez outpointed him over ten rounds in April 1975. Ramírez was still only 16. He responded by winning another 22 fights, most of them by knockout, as he travelled between Sonora, Sinaloa and Baja California.

His only defeat inside the distance came against Rubén Olivares at the Forum in Inglewood on 28 April 1978. Ramírez was a 19-year-old featherweight, while Olivares was an experienced former bantamweight and featherweight champion with more than 90 contests behind him. Olivares knocked him out in the second round. Ramírez subsequently moved up in weight, where his physical strength and stamina became more effective. He won the Mexican lightweight championship in 1979 and developed into a persistent pressure fighter whose compact southpaw attack was difficult to discourage.

A major test came against Alexis Argüello in Miami on 14 November 1980. Ramírez entered with a record of 67 wins and two defeats, while Argüello was already recognised as one of the leading fighters in the world. Ramírez dropped him in the sixth round, the first recorded knockdown of Argüello’s professional career, but lost a split decision over ten rounds. The official scores were 95-94 and 97-94 for Argüello, with the third judge favouring Ramírez by 98-95. Ramírez maintained that he had done enough to win, and the closeness of the contest established that his lengthy record had substance behind it.

He was beaten on points by the unbeaten Ray Mancini over 12 rounds in July 1981, but continued his rise by winning the Mexican lightweight championship outright and then stopping Frankie Moultrie in three rounds for the vacant North American title in November 1982. Those victories led to his first world-title contest against Edwin Rosario at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan on 1 May 1983. Rosario began quickly and held off Ramírez’s late advance to win the vacant WBC lightweight championship. All three judges returned scores of 115-113.

The rematch with Rosario, again in San Juan, on 3 November 1984 produced the defining victory of Ramírez’s career. Rosario dropped him twice in the opening two rounds and appeared close to retaining his championship. Ramírez survived, continued pressing and hurt the tiring Puerto Rican during the third. In the fourth, he trapped Rosario in a corner and delivered a sustained series of unanswered punches. Referee Steve Crosson stopped the contest at 2 minutes 52 seconds after Ramírez had landed 17 consecutive blows. The contest was selected as The Ring magazine’s Fight of the Year.

Ramírez’s first reign ended in his opening defence against Héctor Camacho at the Riviera in Las Vegas on 10 August 1985. The bout had been postponed after Camacho broke an ankle playing basketball. When it eventually took place, the faster Puerto Rican dropped Ramírez in the third round and controlled the contest from long range. Camacho won a unanimous 12-round decision, leaving Ramírez to rebuild away from the immediate world-title picture.

Ramírez relocated much of his career to France and put together seven consecutive victories there. When Camacho vacated the WBC championship, Ramírez met Terrence Alli for the title at Saint-Tropez on 19 July 1987. Alli’s movement and awkward methods made the contest close, but Ramírez’s steady pressure earned him a unanimous decision and restored him as champion. He made a decisive first defence at the Zenith Palais in Paris, knocking out former super-featherweight champion Cornelius Boza Edwards in the fifth round. Boza Edwards had not won a completed round on any official scorecard.

The second defence, against Pernell Whitaker at Levallois-Perret on 12 March 1988, remains inseparable from Ramírez’s career. Whitaker used his jab, footwork and defensive skill to control most of the contest, yet Ramírez received a split decision. Newton Campos scored 116-115 and Louis Michel 118-113 for the champion, while Harry Gibbs had Whitaker winning 117-113. Ringside reports overwhelmingly favoured the American, with The Ring scoring all 12 rounds for Whitaker. The verdict preserved Ramírez’s championship, but it is generally regarded as one of the poorest decisions of its period.

His next major contest was a unification match with WBA champion Julio César Chávez at the Las Vegas Hilton on 29 October 1988. The two Mexicans were friends, former gym companions and neighbours in Culiacán, with Ramírez serving as godfather to one of Chávez’s sons. Sentiment had little place once the bell sounded. Chávez was quicker, more accurate and increasingly dominant. An accidental clash of heads opened a serious cut on Ramírez, and the fight was halted 54 seconds into the 11th round. Chávez won the technical decision and took Ramírez’s WBC title.

Ramírez received a second opportunity against Whitaker on 20 August 1989, this time challenging for the IBF championship at the Scope in Norfolk, Virginia. There was no argument about the outcome. Whitaker outboxed him comprehensively and won a unanimous 12-round decision. Ramírez then moved to light-welterweight and challenged Juan Martín Coggi for the WBA title in Ajaccio on 24 March 1990. Coggi also defeated him clearly over 12 rounds. Ramírez retired after the contest, aged 31, explaining years later that he had become tired of boxing and had also been affected by the death of his manager in a swimming accident.

Ramírez was not a polished stylist, nor did he depend upon elaborate movement. He advanced behind a right jab, kept his gloves high and applied steady pressure with short hooks and a hard straight left. His balance, body punching and physical strength allowed him to remain effective late in contests. He could be troubled by fast movers, as Camacho and Whitaker demonstrated, but he was difficult to discourage and dangerous after being hurt. The Rosario rematch provided the clearest example of his stamina and composure. Across 111 professional contests, Olivares remained the only man to stop him.

After retirement, Ramírez withdrew from regular public attention. In a later interview, he described himself as divorced and the father of four daughters and one son. He lived quietly in Huatabampo while maintaining family connections in Culiacán. He was inducted into the former World Boxing Hall of Fame in California, an organisation separate from the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota. In 2003, The Ring included him among its 100 greatest punchers. His record requires little embellishment: two reigns as WBC lightweight champion, victories over Rosario and Boza Edwards, a disputed decision over Whitaker, and 82 stoppages during one of the busiest careers of his generation.